Papers

We initiate the study of weak Schur sampling (WSS) under noisy inputs. Many optimal quantum learning algorithms rely on this measurement, for instance in quantum spectrum estimation (QSE) and quantum state tomography (QST). The standard analysis of WSS, QSE and QST assumes that the $n$ input copies of the target state $\rho$ are identical, i.e. $\rho^{\otimes n}$. We study what happens when they are not, a more realistic noisy scenario that breaks the very permutation symmetry on which WSS is built. In the simplest model the input is a noisy product state: the copies are independent but not necessarily identical and each is $\epsilon$-close in trace distance to the $d$-dimensional target state $\rho$. A naive argument via the data-processing inequality allows the per-copy errors to accumulate to $n\epsilon$ on the measurement outcome. We show that for QSE via WSS this does not happen: the expected estimation error in total variation is at most $\epsilon+\eta(n,d)$, where $\eta(n,d)=O(d/\sqrt n)$ is the noiseless error, and the additive noise term $\epsilon$ is optimal. The output error does not grow with $n$ even though the input error does; in this sense WSS is robust. Beyond noisy product states, for arbitrary input $\omega$ we show that the error is at most $\eta(n,d)+\frac{1}{n}\|\omega-\rho^{\otimes n}\|_{W_1}$, where $W_1$ is the quantum Wasserstein distance of De Palma et al. In particular, our results imply, for the first time, noise-robustness of Keyl and Werner's seminal algorithm for QSE, more than two decades after its introduction. Finally, we show that the noise cannot be too bad: within our model of robustness the promise on the input cannot be weakened to closeness of single-copy marginals or to a global trace-distance budget alone, as in both cases some inputs defeat every measurement and estimator.

A quantum orthogonal polynomial transform (QOPT) is an algorithmic primitive that maps a superposition of standard basis states $\sum_k \alpha_{k} \ket{k}$ coherently to a basis of normalized univariate polynomials orthogonal with respect to a probability measure $\mu(x)$. We provide new discrete and continuous QOPTs for polynomial families in the Askey scheme extending the results for the quantum Hermite transform (Jain et al., STOC'26). Our efficient QOPT algorithms require time $O(\text{polylog}(N, 1/\epsilon))$, where $N$ is the grid size and $\epsilon$ is the error, for the discrete Charlier, Meixner and Krawtchouk transforms and for the integer-order Laguerre transform in the continuous setting. The efficient QOPTs are obtained by uncovering the links between Askey scheme polynomials and Gaussian quantum optical gates and developing a compilation framework for $SU(2)$ and $SU(1,1)$ optical gates on Cartesian grids extending the framework developed by Iyer et al. (arXiv:2602.15180). Further, we reduce the continuous Jacobi transform to the discrete Hahn transform and provide an $O\!\left(N\operatorname{polylog}((N+\alpha+\beta+1)/\epsilon)\right)$-time Hahn transform, a quadratic speedup over the naive implementation. This is based on a more efficient compilation of the Clebsch–Gordan transform for coupling $\mathrm{SU}(2)$ representations with spins $(j_{1}, j_{2})$. Finally, we develop a new framework for Laguerre transforms for all orders $\nu>0$ by fast-forwarding the corresponding radial oscillator using a 3-term chirp decomposition and an efficient algorithm for the Quantum Hankel Transform on a logarithmic grid.

For classical–quantum wiretap channels with a transitive covariant input action, both output ensembles admit a description as unitary group orbits of fixed seed states. We use this structure to construct finite-block preprocessing schemes whose private information is an entropy difference evaluated at two distributions related by group convolution. Applying the construction to product groups allows correlations across any fixed number of channel uses. We give a sufficient condition for the associated uniform-input bound to equal the single-use private information. Constant-composition channel codes and universal$_2$ hashing achieve the resulting rates, with trace-distance leakage controlled by sandwiched Rényi information. For uniform outer randomization, the representation structure reduces the comparison-state optimization to Eve's invariant states. For the hybrid binary channel considered by Tikku, Berta and Renes, numerical optimization at three and four uses gives rates above our numerical estimate of the optimized noisy-repetition benchmark wherever that estimate is positive on the tested grid. The improvement comes from noise distributions beyond the family of independent physical flips and a symmetric logical flip. We also prove nonadditivity at an explicit channel parameter using a two-use encoder, an analytic single-use converse, and certified entropy bounds. Finally, we relate the hybrid model to binary phase-shift keying with a fixed receiver measurement.

Classical Dobrushin–Shlosman theory uses heat-bath block updates to identify sharp temperature thresholds for establishing the rapid mixing of Gibbs samplers. In particular, these mixing guarantees often hold even when stricter single-site conditions fail. We extend this approach to noncommuting quantum lattice systems through a quantum Dobrushin–Shlosman condition for finite-block dynamics, which we call smoothed heat-bath dynamics. We establish this condition in two regimes. For finite-range quantum spin chains at every fixed finite temperature, we prove logarithmic trace-norm mixing in system size, with normalized bounds uniform in on-site fields and single exponential in inverse temperature. We also prove stability under small local perturbations of interacting, possibly noncommuting reference Hamiltonians on graphs of polynomial volume growth. For classical references with bounded local interactions, uniform strong spatial mixing implies our quantum condition. With bounded local terms and fixed physical, geometric and block parameters, the resulting samplers prepare Gibbs states to trace-norm error $\varepsilon$ using $N\operatorname{polylog}(N/\varepsilon)$ gates and classical operations. Our block updates combine a local Gibbs reset with quantum belief propagation to incorporate interactions across the block boundary, yielding exactly Gibbs-preserving, KMS-reversible channels. Two independently tunable parameters control contraction: an internal evolution time suppresses the influence of sites inside a block, while the block size allows interior contraction to dominate boundary influence. This finite-time relaxation has no counterpart in a classical heat-bath block update.

We derive sharp lower bounds on the energy cost of Page-like entanglement entropy excursions in two-dimensional conformal field theory. For states satisfying the primary quantum null energy condition (QNEC), the positive null energy $E_+$ obeys a sharp lower bound with two branches separated by the threshold $\Delta S=(c/6)\ln 2$. We also derive a sharp lower bound on the net energy $E_{\rm net}$, with a coefficient larger by a factor of two than the value quoted by Abdolrahimi and Page [Phys. Rev. D 92, 083005 (2015)] and, in the QNEC-saturating sector, we obtain a sharp lower bound on the negative energy $E_-$. The constants are sharp as infima over smooth conformal vacua. We determine the entropy profiles that minimize $E_+$ for general QNEC states and the one that minimizes $E_-$ in the saturating sector. Finally, for an excursion containing an infinite sequence of small sub-excursions within a finite duration, we derive a necessary condition for the total positive energy to remain finite, which is stronger than requiring the entropy to have finite total variation.

Non-recurrent epidemics on complex networks, such as the paradigmatic susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model, are often studied by mapping the model to bond percolation. However, the conditions under which this identification is justified have not been fully understood, except in specific cases. Here, we systematically determine when this mapping can be applied, starting from minimal assumptions on the epidemic model and the underlying network. Specifically, we discuss the conditions for three different forms of equivalence between a general non-recurrent epidemic model and Bernoulli bond percolation: isomorphism, equality of marginal infection probabilities, and equality of expected epidemic size. We numerically demonstrate the validity of our findings and examine how epidemiological outcomes are affected when these equivalences are not upheld. Our results establish the methodological basis and limitations of a common tool for analyzing epidemic processes on networks.

Green Pea galaxies (GPs) are a class of rare, extreme star-forming galaxies whose physical properties closely resemble high-redshift Ly-{\alpha} emitting galaxies. Their high equivalent width [O III] emission lines make them readily identifiable in surveys of emission-line galaxies like the on-going deep, narrowband Star Formation Across Cosmic Times (SFACT) survey. In this study, we use broadband gri colors and [O III] equivalent widths derived from narrowband images to select a new sample of ~120 GP candidates from a catalog of [O III]-detected galaxies identified in the SFACT survey. All SFACT GP candidates have spectroscopically confirmed redshift in the range z = 0.31-0.51. The median apparent magnitude of our sample is g = 22.9. We compare the properties of our GP candidate sample to other samples of known GPs. We find that the excellent depth of SFACT allows us to detect GP candidates to lower luminosities than these comparison samples. This is the first catalog of SFACT GP candidates; additional candidates will be added as the spectroscopic follow-up of the SFACT survey is completed.

Many-body perturbation theory is a powerful framework to calculate spectroscopic quantities, as well as the total energy. However, the field suffers from the fact that different flavors of approximations lead to a wide range of results. We present several in principle exact expansions and discuss how to use them consistently. We concentrate on the first two orders in the respective screened Coulomb interaction. Of special interest is a consistent expansion around the Kohn-Sham system. We illustrate the performance of the various choices using the symmetric Hubbard dimer over a wide range of correlation strength. In particular, the expansion based on exact Kohn-Sham ingredients stands out as a promising route towards good energies and good spectra.

We propose a Gibbs state preparation algorithm that exploits algebraic structure in the Hamiltonian. Our starting point is Hamiltonian Decoded Quantum Interferometry (HDQI), a recent algorithm that reduces Gibbs state preparation for Pauli Hamiltonians to decoding error-correcting codes. We introduce quantum decoding HDQI (QD-HDQI), replacing HDQI's coherent classical decoder by a quantum decoder that can exploit interference between different errors. For commuting Pauli Hamiltonians, our reduction is efficient and the associated quantum decoding problem corresponds to transmitting the associated symplectic code over i.i.d. pure-state classical-quantum channels. For uniformly random Hamiltonian signs, the vanishing-error threshold of an efficient decoder directly determines the lowest temperature that our algorithm can reach. Even using only classical decoders, this improves upon HDQI's achievable inverse temperature from linear to square-root in the correctable error fraction; quantum decoders can improve further by tolerating still stronger noise. A similar picture extends to the noncommuting regime previously handled by HDQI, where now the noise is correlated within small, independent blocks. We study two such quantum decoders in our QD-HDQI Gibbs sampling framework. The first, based on unambiguous state discrimination, works efficiently for arbitrary binary linear codes. However, we "dequantize" this strategy for commuting Hamiltonians, contributing a classical rejection sampler that matches its temperature threshold. The second is belief propagation with quantum messages (BPQM), a quantum generalization of classical belief propagation. We show that for certain dilute spin glasses, BPQM's decoding threshold exceeds the Shannon limit for classical decoding, reaching temperatures inaccessible to any classical decoder within our framework.

Constant-frequency oscillation is usually tied to the broken phase of a spatially coupled PT-symmetric dimer, where the eigenfrequencies form a complex-conjugate pair with a fixed real part. This work shows that an analogous locking can instead come from Floquet hybridization in a synthetic frequency dimension. Periodic gain–loss modulation folds the spectrum into replicas spaced by the drive frequency $\Omega$. Coupling between neighboring replicas opens an additional real-part degeneracy at the edge of the Floquet Brillouin zone. The hybridized Floquet mode at $\omega_0\pm\Omega/2$ requires the minimum gain and is therefore selected for the self-oscillation. A Floquet PT-symmetric circuit with a JFET time-varying negative resistance confirms the prediction. The observed constant-frequency oscillation contains two frequency components of comparable amplitude, separated by the modulation frequency, which identifies its origin from Floquet hybridization rather than ordinary PT-symmetry breaking or dispersion flattening. More broadly, once a suitably symmetry-constrained spectral degeneracy is established, self-sustained frequency pinning can arise beyond the conventional spatial PT-broken phase.

Exactly solvable models are often identified from structural features of their interactions. For quantum spin Hamiltonians, these are captured by the frustration graph of anticommuting Pauli terms. The frustration graph characterizes broad families of spin models that map to free fermions for arbitrary, or generic, values of their coupling strengths. Nevertheless, there exist non-generically solvable models that admit free-fermion solutions only at finely tuned couplings. In this work, we characterize a family of such models in terms of graph structures. Given an arbitrary instance of Fendley's free-fermions-in-disguise (FFD) chain, we construct a set of operators, called Krylov currents, that are exactly quadratic in its effective fermionic modes and thus extend it to a linear family of free-fermion solvable Hamiltonians. As the Krylov currents are nonlinear in the FFD Hamiltonian terms, the elements of this generated family are non-generically solvable, and they accordingly fail the known conditions for generic solvability. We prove that every Krylov current admits an expansion in terms of induced paths of the frustration graph and that they generate the full special-orthogonal algebra of Gaussian transformations. Our results identify path support as a signature of non-generic solvability, and they provide a systematic route to finding exactly solvable many-body Hamiltonians.

We propose a formulation of a quantum field theory within the framework of the unfolded dynamics approach, originally developed in higher-spin gauge theory. We construct an unfolded system that describes a hierarchy of Schwinger-Dyson equations for vertex functions of a scalar QFT in terms of unfolded first-order equations. A distinctive feature of the constructed system is the appearance of two additional evolution parameters responsible for the WKB and RG behaviors. As an illustration, a one-loop analysis of the theory with quartic self-interaction is carried out.

We demonstrate that form factors evaluated with momenta analytically continued into the complex plane can be accessed directly from position-space Euclidean correlators such as those computed numerically in lattice quantum field theory, without continuing the correlators themselves or solving an inverse problem. The method applies a bilateral Laplace transform to lattice data, yielding the form factor throughout the transform's domain of convergence. For the pion form factor in Quantum Chromodynamics (QCD), this domain contains all complex values of the invariant $Q^2$ satisfying $\mathrm{Re} \, Q^2>-4m_\pi^2$, where $m_\pi$ denotes the pion mass. This extended kinematic reach could improve charge-radius determinations and provide more complete input for fits based on conformal mappings. After developing the method for infinite-volume correlators, we discuss several finite-volume estimators suitable for realistic calculations, including position-space fits and the use of a spatial chemical potential implemented through boundary conditions with an imaginary twist angle. Finally, we test the method in the two-dimensional $O(3)$ nonlinear sigma model using Monte Carlo data.

We are developing an experimental platform at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory's Jupiter Laser Facility to characterize X-ray emission from highly charged ions in the high-density ($n_e > 10^{23}$ cm$^{-3}$), high-temperature ($T_e \sim 1$ keV) regime, leveraging the recently upgraded frequency-doubled short-pulse Titan laser. These measurements will provide experimental benchmarks for high electron density effects on atomic structure, including Stark broadening, ionization potential depression, density-dependent line shifts, and suppression of dielectronic recombination, effects that are relevant to spectral modeling packages used by both the high-energy-density and astrophysics communities. Here, we describe the current status of the platform and present results from first experiments using the upgraded frequency-doubling capability, including calibrated K-shell spectra acquired from five time-integrated X-ray channels. Comparisons with MERL line shape calculations and with spectra recorded at AWE's Orion Laser Facility indicate that the upgraded Titan laser reliably produces the necessary plasma conditions, establishing a foundation for systematic benchmarking of high-density atomic physics in future campaigns.

Optical polarization is a key degree of freedom in quantum photonic and sensing technologies, enabling efficient light–matter coupling and directional emission. However, in defect ensemble-based quantum systems, orientational averaging across many defects suppresses optical anisotropy and eliminates a deterministic polarization axis. Here, symmetry engineering is introduced as a strategy to restore collective optical anisotropy in negatively charged boron vacancy (V_B^-) ensembles hosted in hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN). By imposing anisotropic in-plane tensile strain through lithographically defined nano-ridge arrays, in-plane symmetry is broken and the ensemble emission dipole is aligned with the ridge-defined strain symmetry axis. Polarization-resolved photoluminescence reveals that the polarization visibility scales with the magnitude of strain anisotropy, while the emission orientation rigidly follows the engineered symmetry axis across devices with varying strain direction. This deterministic alignment is independent of crystal orientation, establishing the optical foundation for polarization-defined ensemble spin readout and programmable photonic integration in two-dimensional quantum materials

What must a quantum error-correction decoder know about temporally correlated noise, and what does it cost to learn? We study this question for fixed stabilizer memory experiments with known system-environment interactions. We formulate calibration in terms of the fidelity differences that select a Pauli recovery and relate missing information to the resulting fidelity loss. Our main example uses weak coherent $X$ rotations in a class of CSS codes including Shor, Steane, and odd-distance rotated surface codes. All physical qubits share a sign either fixed throughout a run or independently redrawn each interval. The two models have identical syndrome statistics and the same spatiotemporal Pauli process (SPP), obtained by Pauli-twirling every noise interval. Yet at suitable storage times, they require different logical corrections. In the weak-noise limit, each model is almost perfectly correctable when known. Without model information, even the best final recovery has a worst-case fidelity loss approaching $1/2$ relative to the noise-aware optimum, despite access to the full syndrome record. For this pair of models, at fixed code and fixed positive target loss below $1/2$, we prove matching calibration bounds. With logical preparation and final readout, complete QEC cycles require a number of noise intervals scaling as the inverse rotation angle raised to the code's $X$ distance. Allowing two uninterrupted intervals before one extraction reduces the optimal cost to inverse-square scaling. Physical Pauli twirling of every noise interval changes both recovery performance and its information requirements. Discarding the record of applied random Pauli operations makes the SPP sufficient for optimal recovery. Keeping this record can improve the attainable fidelity, but reaching that optimum may require additional noise information.

The evolution of baryons in halos, as well as their gravitational impact on the total-matter phase space, has a rich phenomenology and is vital in answering many questions in both cosmology and astrophysics. We use the CAMELS simulation suite to quantify the impact of twenty-three different galaxy formation parameters/processes (as well as five cosmological parameters) on the concentration–mass relation, $c_{\rm vir}$ - $M_{\rm vir}$, which characterizes the radial density distribution in halos. We construct a simulation-informed nonlinear model for concentration as a function of halo mass, redshift, and twenty-eight cosmological/astrophysical parameters. This is done using 2048 simulations of the IllustrisTNG galaxy formation model from the CAMELS suite. We extract the imprints of galaxy formation across a wide range in mass $M_{\rm vir} \in [10^{11}, 10^{14.5}]$ $M_{\odot}/h$ and in redshift $z \in [0, 3]$, finding clear mass- and redshift-dependent features in each of the different feedback mechanisms. From our measurements, we construct a three-component phenomenological model that can include astrophysical imprints in the concentration–mass relation in a fast and simple manner.

In this article, we give a global construction of the Virasoro conformal blocks on Teichmüller space of Riemann surfaces of genus $g$ with $m$ marked points, when the central charge is $c>25$. We prove that they are global holomorphic sections of a holomorphic line bundle and they satisfy the Ward identity, which encodes their conformal invariance. For the sphere with $3$ points, the space of conformal blocks is one-dimensional. For a given marked Riemann surface and a marked pair of pants decomposition, it is in general an infinite dimensional Hilbert space, isomorphic to $L^2(\R_+^{3g-3+m})$ with respect to some measure involving the DOZZ structure constants. We show that it carries a projective unitary representation of the mapping class group. More generally, there are unitary isomorphisms for each Moore-Seiberg move, changing a marked pair of pants decomposition into another one.

This paper is the second part of the proof of the conformal bootstrap for Liouville conformal field theory on compact surfaces with boundary. It is devoted to the spectral theory of the half-annulus semigroup and to the resulting bootstrap formula. Building on the Segal axioms and gluing properties established in Part~1~\cite{GRW1}, we identify the generator of the half-annulus semigroup with the boundary Hamiltonian and establish its spectral decomposition by scattering methods. This yields a direct-integral decomposition of the boundary state space into irreducible Virasoro representations, governed by the boundary spectral measure. Combining this decomposition with Ward identities for boundary deformations, we express general correlation functions as integrals over spectral parameters attached to cutting curves, with integrands given by products of bulk and boundary structure constants and the corresponding conformal blocks. These results also underpin the analyticity and symmetry properties of conformal blocks~\cite{GRSSbloc}, and contribute to the construction of mapping class group representations on spaces of conformal blocks~\cite{PapierBlocs}.

During embryonic development and cancer progression, clusters of cells migrate collectively following external cues. Such migrating cell clusters have been modeled as active droplets wetting a substrate. So far, this active wetting model assumed the cluster to take the symmetric shape of a spherical cap. Here, in contrast, we experimentally show that migrating clusters of frog neural crest cells have asymmetric height profiles, with a lower contact angle at the front than at the rear. We then extend the active wetting model by deriving an equation for the cluster shape, which becomes part of the solution rather than an assumption. Our model shows that shape asymmetry can arise from the asymmetric tractions that drive cluster migration: They generate a pressure gradient across the tissue which, via the Young-Laplace equation, leads to a curvature gradient on the cluster's upper surface. Finally, by fitting the theoretical predictions to the measured height profile, we estimate the tissue viscosity. Overall, our results provide a general mechanism for the emergence of asymmetric shapes in migrating cell clusters, understood as active droplets on a wettability gradient.

We theoretically investigate the optical response of the WSe2 monolayer vertically stacked on twisted bilayer graphene (tBG) under electrostatic doping. In this heterostructure, the doped moiré superlattice of tBG generates a spatially modulated electrostatic potential that couples to the electron and hole constituents of the WSe2 exciton through the screened Coulomb interaction, thereby providing a microscopic mechanism for exciton coupling to the charge-density landscape of the moiré Fermi sea. Focusing on twist angles below the magic angle (1.1{\deg}), where electronic correlations are strongly enhanced, we demonstrate that electrostatic doping induces pronounced modifications of the excitonic absorption spectrum, including the emergence of multiple satellite resonances. We show that these spectral features originate from the interplay between the exciton center-of-mass and internal degrees of freedom, together with doping-induced hybridization between Rydberg exciton states of different orbital symmetry. The calculated spectra are in good agreement with previously reported experimental observations and theoretical predictions. Our results establish electrostatic doping in tBG as an effective means of engineering excitonic states in adjacent semiconducting monolayers and provide a pathway toward novel optical sensor devices.

Loading data into quantum computers is a key bottleneck that threatens end-to-end quantum advantage. Quantum-circuit compilers for structured states like matrix product states (MPS) are a critical enabler to manage this in quantum chemistry, finance, and many-body quantum simulation. Approximate preparation of MPS typically relies on layered sequential staircases of nearest-neighbour gates. We present Adaptive State Preparation by Iterative Removal of Entanglement (ASPIRE), an algorithm that approximately compiles state-preparation circuits by selecting gates based on the state's underlying entanglement geometry and the available connectivity of the target quantum processor. Our protocol scores candidate qubit pairs on the removability of their entanglement and identifies layers of parallelised long-ranged gates that remove the most entanglement. We demonstrate our protocol empirically across a range of settings, illustrating its success for preparing Hamiltonian ground states and multivariate amplitude-encoded functions, and accounting for qubit connectivity, hardware noise, and both NISQ and early fault-tolerant settings. Throughout, ASPIRE typically achieves higher fidelities and shallower circuits than existing methods for states with long-ranged entanglement, even when classical optimisation is accounted for. Our investigation positions ASPIRE as a competitive, resource-frugal state-preparation protocol, with particular promise for applications tolerant to imperfect fidelity such as preparation of guide states for quantum phase estimation.

Observations of the Epoch of Reionization (EoR) provide key insights into the nature of the first luminous sources and the thermal state of the intergalactic medium (IGM). Cross-correlations between the kinetic Sunyaev–Zel'dovich (kSZ) effect and neutral hydrogen (HI) 21-cm emission offer a promising probe of this era, sensitive to both the ionization and thermal histories of the early Universe. We investigate the cross-correlation of the squared kSZ field with the squared 21-cm intensity-mapping field ($\mathrm{kSZ}^{2}\times21\mathrm{cm}^{2}$) over $z\simeq9$–$16$, focusing on the impact of spatial fluctuations in the HI spin temperature. This higher-order statistic avoids line-of-sight cancellations in the kSZ signal, while squaring the 21-cm field enables non-vanishing correlations with pairs of equal and opposite high-$k_\parallel$ modes accessible outside the foreground wedge. We forecast the cumulative signal-to-noise ratio ($\mathrm{S/N}$) for several combinations of 21-cm and CMB experiments, including realistic instrumental noise. For a fiducial heating history and an optimistic foreground-avoidance scenario ($k_\parallel\leq0.1\,h\,\mathrm{Mpc}^{-1}$), we find $\mathrm{S/N}\simeq5.89$ for SKA-Low AA$^\ast\times$CMB-HD and $\simeq3.62$ for HERA$\times$CMB-HD. If the foreground wedge extends to the horizon, these decrease to $2.94$ and $2.85$, respectively. Our results demonstrate that $\mathrm{kSZ}^{2}\times21\mathrm{cm}^{2}$ is sensitive to the thermal evolution of the IGM as well as its ionization structure, providing complementary constraints on the high-redshift thermal and reionization histories.

Precise and programmable control of optical polarization provides a versatile vectorial degree of freedom for light-matter interaction and optical information encoding. Existing polarization state generators (PSGs), however, suffer from poor switchability and modest fidelity at the micrometer scale, which severely constrains their practical applicability. To overcome these limitations, here we present a quantitative spin-orbit engineering that enables the dynamic synthesis of arbitrary polarization states at subwavelength dimensions. The core concept is to tailor conjugate optical vortices that independently address the orthogonal spin components of a vectorially polarized light. This spatial modulation scheme annihilates intrinsic topological charges and reshapes the spin-orbit interaction, thereby coherently constructing polarization ellipses on demand. Leveraging this mechanism, we experimentally synthesize diffraction-limited arbitrarily polarized beams spanning the entire Poincare sphere with fidelity over 99%. As proof-of-principle demonstrations, we apply the miniaturized PSG platform to Mueller-matrix polarization microscopy, pixel-level polarization encryption, and parallel polarization-information encoding, illustrating its broad utility of programmable polarization control for subwavelength polarimetric imaging and reconfigurable multiplexed polarization encoding. Compared with state-of-the-art PSGs, our approach uniquely integrates rapid programmability, high fidelity, and subwavelength localization in a single architecture. These multifunctional capabilities of this work position the platform as a promising route for advancing Mueller matrix polarization microscopy, multidimensional optical storage, and secure optical information processing, and beyond.

We develop a Fock-space formulation that reduces expectation values of vacuum-family quasi-primaries in qKdV eigenstates of arbitrary highest-weight conformal families to a free-bosonic problem, and employ it to test the generalized eigenstate thermalization hypothesis (GETH), in 2D conformal field theories with large central charge $c$. We demonstrate that the first two quantum Korteweg–de Vries (qKdV) charges $Q_1$ and $Q_3$ lift all degeneracies except along at most countably many curves in the $(c,\Delta)$ plane, where $\Delta$ is the highest weight of the conformal family, so that the full-qKdV simultaneous eigenstates are unambiguously determined by $Q_1$ and $Q_3$. Based on this, a near-complete toolkit for testing in the vacuum conformal family or falsifying the general form of GETH, i.e. equating qKdV eigenstates and thermal states of the generalized Gibbs ensemble in the sense of expectations of local observables, is provided in this paper, through the infinite tower of qKdV charges. A stronger form of the GETH, namely that all expectations of local observables of a definite level should be expressible of qKdV charges but not contain microscopic eigenstate information, is directly falsified at subleading order in the large-$c$ expansion. At levels 6 and 8 in the vacuum family, expectation values of quasi-primaries in simultaneous eigenstates of the qKdV charges are not fixed by first finitely many qKdV charges, and microscopic information of the eigenstate is required.

We determine the thermal melting phase diagram of the electron solid by measuring the onset density of the double-threshold voltage-current curves in the insulating state in the ultra-high mobility two-dimensional electron system in SiGe/Si/SiGe quantum wells at different temperatures in perpendicular magnetic fields. The introduction of a magnetic field leads to a considerable increase in the onset density, which is strongest at the lowest temperatures and decreases with increasing temperature, and the melting temperature increases with magnetic field. These data are in agreement with theoretical predictions. Unexpectedly, the melting temperature as a function of electron density in a fixed magnetic field reveals a plateau, which can be interpreted in terms of resonance modes in the crystallites.

At the low densities encountered in the inner crust of neutron stars, neutron matter becomes superfluid, directly influencing macroscopic phenomena such as star cooling. However, a precise quantitative understanding of this system has been hindered by uncontrolled many-body approximations. In this letter, we exploit the nonperturbative Gorkov algebraic diagrammatic construction method to provide a unified ab initio description of the equation of state and the single-particle spectral functions of homogeneous neutron matter, spanning from the dilute regime to saturation density. We identify clear microscopic signatures of superfluidity in the excitation spectrum and quantify the pairing gaps associated with realistic chiral Hamiltonians, estimating for the first time their sensitivity to the many-body truncation. Our robust handling of both dynamical and pairing correlations paves the way for exploring electroweak processes across the regimes relevant to neutron stars.

Post-exposure microscopy is central to qualification of fusion materials. However, manual analysis does not scale to the volume, heterogeneity, and multiresolution character of modern fusion-materials campaigns. To address this challenge, we present a reproducible workflow, implemented in the Galaxy scientific workflow environment, for automated crack identification and quantitative damage assessment from scanning electron microscopy images. The workflow processes SEM images and experimental metadata to identify cracks, quantify damage, and retain the intermediate products and processing history needed for reproducibility. Outputs include crack masks, skeletonized crack networks, quality-control visualizations, and scalar damage descriptors. The method is designed to operate without image-specific parameter tuning across tungsten grades, microstructures, magnifications, and damage states. We demonstrate the workflow on a sparse electron-beam thermal-shock dataset containing 418 images from 114 experiments spanning five tungsten grades and three microstructural states. We define a crack-density descriptor, which provides standardized inputs for downstream machine-learning prediction and physics-based crack simulation. These predictive components are exposed in the same Galaxy environment and are intentionally treated here as extensible workflow modules. The principal contribution is therefore an end-to-end, shareable, and computationally portable workflow that links experimental characterization, automated image analysis, preliminary damage prediction, and simulation-guided data acquisition for fusion-materials research.

We investigate dynamical relaxation to the Born rule in a semiclassical gravity model described by the Schrödinger-Newton equations. Using a Gaussian variational solution for the self-gravitating wave packet, combined with Nelson's stochastic representation of quantum dynamics, we track the evolution of particle ensembles whose initial probability distribution differs from $|\Psi|^2$. Relaxation to the Born rule ("quantum equilibrium") occurs when the wave packet remains bounded, or grows sufficiently slowly in time; in contrast, for rapidly expanding solutions of the Schrödinger-Newton equations, deviations from the Born rule can persist indefinitely. Numerical simulations confirm this analytical picture. These results show that semiclassical self-gravity can either enable or inhibit relaxation towards the Born rule, providing a minimal model relevant to proposals of primordial quantum non-equilibrium, as suggested by Underwood and Valentini [Phys. Rev. D 92, 063531 (2015)].

Frequency-bin encoding provides a scalable platform for photonic quantum information processing by enabling high-dimensional qudit states compatible with the telecommunications infrastructure. However, characterizing these systems remains challenging, as conventional quantum state tomography requires measurement resources that increase rapidly with dimensionality, compounded by the difficulty of implementing controllable measurements across many frequency modes at once. Here, we address these challenges and demonstrate threshold quantum state tomography of entangled frequency-bin qudits using adaptive measurements that exploit the sparsity of highly entangled biphoton frequency combs. Combined with Bayesian inference, we experimentally demonstrate full state estimation of biphoton frequency combs with Hilbert space dimensions up to $d^2=100$—a 56% increase over the previous record—all while performing a mere 1.9% of the measurements required by conventional tomographically complete approaches. This work confirms the promise of measurement-aware approaches for characterizing high-dimensional photonic quantum systems, unlocking new tools for full tomography that are hardware-efficient, state-aware, and free from a priori assumptions about state structure.