Papers

Grain-boundary (GB) segregation in austenitic Fe-Cr-Ni alloys has been studied mainly in irradiated or sensitised material, rarely in the nanocrystalline state. Hybrid molecular dynamics/Monte Carlo (MD/MC) simulations are used to segregate three independent nanocrystalline Fe-18Cr-12Ni polycrystals, which are compared with annealed and random controls on the same microstructures. Ni is depleted at the GB plane and Cr is enriched in the adjacent atomic shell; both directions are established at the production sampling budget and strengthen when one of the three microstructures is sampled further. The Cr enrichment is resolved only against the far-field grain interior; the common partition into face-centred-cubic (fcc) and non-fcc atoms places the enriched shell in its own reference. Under a constant uniaxial stress of 4.6 GPa at 300 K, the segregated polycrystals take about 16% longer than random ones to reach 50% strain; measured against annealed controls, boundary chemistry contributes about two-thirds of this gain and boundary relaxation the rest. The difference arises from a lower strain rate early in plastic flow, with no resolvable change in dislocation content. At a fixed strain rate the segregated state has a 6-7% higher peak stress than its annealed control at 300, 750 and 950 K, and at matched ratios of applied to flow stress the gain is the same at all three temperatures, decreasing only as that ratio rises. Early plastic flow is thus the stage at which GB chemistry acts, and simulated GB composition in nanocrystals depends strongly on the reference region.

We consider a modular associative neural network made of $L$ Hopfield models (HMs), coupled so that intra-module interactions are Hebbian and inter-module interactions are anti-Hebbian; this competitive coupling is known to endow the network with pattern-disentanglement capabilities. The integral representation of this system coincides with an assembly of $L$ restricted Boltzmann machines (RBMs) whose hidden layers are coupled, thereby extending the HM-RBM duality to the modular setting. We then train this modular RBM, via one-step contrastive divergence, to perform a classification task in which a query encoded on the visible layers is mapped onto an $L$-tuple of labels read off the hidden layers. When the query is composed of $L$ patterns that are mutually orthogonal on average, we prove that the RBM weights obtained as empirical means over the training dataset, as suggested by the HM-RBM equivalence, constitute a fixed point of the learning dynamics, and we derive an explicit, non-asymptotic bound on the residual drift. We then turn to a harder classification task in which each module is queried with a mixture of $L$ patterns and we show numerically that the same setting for the RBM weights still provides an effective set-up, letting the network jointly classify and disentangle the mixture.

The under-the-barrier recollision pathway during the tunneling ionization of an atom, despite its minuscule amplitude, leaves its signature on the observable photoelectron momentum distribution due to a phase shift relative to the direct ionization path, that can be interpreted as a tunneling time delay. We investigate how this time delay is modified in the nonadiabatic regime, where the tunneling barrier evolves dynamically during the ionization process. Our analysis is based on a simple model of a one-dimensional short-range potential driven by a strong laser pulse which remains amenable to a systematic analytical treatment with the strong field approximation (SFA). We show a significant contribution of the high-order SFA corrections, which describes the recollision channel with recombination and further ionization, and is additional to the rescattering. Whereas the recombination channel dominates over the rescattering for the tunneling time delay in the quasistatic regime at relatively large laser fields, their contributions are reversed in weak fields.

We develop a deformation-theoretic framework for algebraic superstacks and apply it to the construction of perfect obstruction theories on moduli spaces of stable supermaps. In order to achieve this we employ the tools and concepts from derived algebraic geometry, extending them to the supergeometric setting. Our main technical contributions are (i) the notions of derived superstacks, (ii) their cotangent supercomplexes and (iii) perfect obstruction theories for algebraic superstacks. We prove that a quasi-smooth derived enhancement of an algebraic superstack always yields a perfect obstruction theory: this generalizes a well-known principle from classical deformation theory. We then turn to the case of the Deligne–Mumford superstack $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{M}}^{\mathsf{st-}\mathrm{SUSY}}_{g,\mathfrak{n}}(\boldsymbol{Y})$ of stable supermaps of fixed genus, homology class and numbers of Neveu–Schwarz and Ramond–Ramond punctures, with target a smooth projective superscheme $\boldsymbol{Y}$. We exhibit a natural derived enhancement $\mathbb{R} \boldsymbol{\mathcal{M}}^{\mathsf{st-}\mathrm{SUSY}}_{g,\mathfrak{n}}(\boldsymbol{Y})$ and compute its cotangent supercomplex; we prove that the induced obstruction theory on $\boldsymbol{\mathcal{M}}^{\mathsf{st-}\mathrm{SUSY}}_{g,\mathfrak{n}}(\boldsymbol{Y})$ is perfect. Finally, we compute its virtual dimension by super Grothendieck–Riemann–Roch. The resulting formula gives, in particular, a deformation-theoretic proof of the virtual dimension formula previously conjectured for stable supermaps and specializes to the usual virtual dimension of the classical moduli stack of stable maps.

A light neutrinophilic scalar $\phi$, which couples predominantly to neutrinos, can be probed through leptonic meson decays for scalar masses $10~\mathrm{MeV}\lesssim m_\phi\lesssim\mathcal{O}(100)~\mathrm{MeV}$. We study neutrinophilic-scalar emission in $D$-meson decays at BESIII and the future Super Tau-Charm Facility (STCF), focusing on $D_{(s)}^+\to e^+\bar{\nu}_\alpha\phi$. Accounting for the $m_\phi$-dependent missing-mass squared ($M_{\rm miss}^2$) distribution within the experimentally selected region, we find the resulting $D^+$ constraint to be substantially weaker than previous estimates based on the integrated three-body decay rate. Extending the $M_{\rm miss}^2$ coverage provides sensitivity to heavier scalars. With the full kinematic range of $M_{\rm miss}^2$ and an integrated luminosity of $1~\mathrm{ab}^{-1}$, the projected STCF sensitivities surpass the existing kaon bound for $m_\phi\gtrsim 380~\mathrm{MeV}$ in the $D^+$ decay and $m_\phi\gtrsim 310~\mathrm{MeV}$ in the $D_s^+$ decay. We further discuss direct searches for $D_{(s)}^+\to\mu^+\bar{\nu}_\alpha\phi$ and their potential for probing the neutrinophilic scalar. A complete analytic expression for the three-body decay width is also derived with full dependence on the scalar and charged-lepton masses, including its behavior in the $m_\phi\to 0$ and $m_\ell\to 0$ limits.

We study the $d$-dimensional generalization of Models II ($d=2$) and V ($d=3$) for liquid crystals introduced by Heilmann–Lieb (1979), which consists of dimers on the hypercubic lattice at chemical potential $\mu$, interacting via a hard-core repulsion and a lateral attraction between parallel dimers with coupling constant $b>0$. For $d\in\{2,3\}$, these models were conjectured to exhibit liquid-crystalline order at low temperatures provided that $\mu+2(d-1)b>0$. We establish nematic order for all $d\ge 2$ under the additional condition $(4d-6)b>\mu$, which corresponds to the physical regime in which misaligned dimers are rare on scales comparable to the correlation length of the one-dimensional reference system. While the treatment of orientational order here follows the approach of our recent work on Model I, the proof of the absence of translational order relies on a custom implementation of cluster swapping in the sense of Sheffield (2005). Consequently, we deduce uniqueness of Gibbs measure and anisotropic exponential decay of correlations within each oriented phase.

We discuss free-energy estimation for complex systems using simulated tempering with Wang–Landau-type feedback. We show that introducing nonreversible dynamics in temperature space and multiple temperature updates per step significantly accelerates the convergence of the free-energy estimate. We then apply the algorithm to the three-dimensional Edwards-Anderson spin-glass model. Our results show that the algorithm can precisely estimate the free energy up to a large system size $L \simeq 64$, and that subsequent equilibrium simulated tempering simulations with the estimated free energy can rapidly sample from the Boltzmann distributions over a wide temperature range that covers the spin-glass transition temperature. The convergence time of our algorithm grows much more slowly with system size than that of another known algorithm for on-the-fly free-energy estimation.

In a Friedmann universe with a time-varying cosmological term, the production of massive particle–antiparticle pairs and their exchange of energy with the spacetime vacuum are described by a cosmic rate equation, $\dot\rho_M+3H\rho_M=\Gamma_M(\rho_M^H-\rho_M)-\Gamma_M^{\rm de}\rho_M$. Together with the Friedmann equations, an energy-balance equation for the time-varying cosmological term, and a reheating equation for the radiation, it forms a closed set of four independent background equations. We derive this set from a complex scalar field with a global U(1) symmetry and a non-minimal coupling to curvature. In the adiabatic case, the occupation of non-relativistic modes gives $\rho_M^H=2\chi m^2H^2$. A kinetic equation, based on the pairwise coupling $\xi R|\Phi|^2$ to fluctuations of the spacetime vacuum, gives the relaxation rate $\Gamma_M$, and a Yukawa coupling gives the decay rate $\Gamma_M^{\rm de}$. In the fast-oscillating case, the Hubble function oscillates at twice the pair mass and locks in phase with the pairs, so that it exchanges no net energy with them. The energy of the created pairs is supplied instead by the decrease of the cosmological term in the time evolution, $-\dot\rho_\Lambda=[(3-2\epsilon) H+\Gamma_M^{\rm de}]\rho_M^H$. Averaging over the fast time gives the cosmic rate equation in the detailed-balance regime $\Gamma_M\gg H$. In this regime the closed set has an exact power-law solution with $\epsilon=-\dot H/H^2=\chi m^2/m_{\rm pl}^2$. We discuss the application of the closed set to inflation, reheating and standard cosmology.

We argue that some of the puzzling features associated with the normalization of gravitational wave functions can be substantially alleviated by restricting the path integral to a sum over connected, allowable geometries. This prescription gives sensible results when applied to classical transitions and it provides non-trivial no-boundary probabilities, in line with old expectations. We highlight the additional impact of both boundary conditions and integration contours on these issues.

We prove asymptotic completeness of the wave operators in time-dependent scattering theory which intertwine the ordinary or fractional Laplacian and the corresponding Hardy operator, i.e., the fractional Laplacian with an added subcritical or critical Hardy potential, whenever the Hardy potential is short-range. Moreover, we prove asymptotic completeness of the wave operators intertwining Hardy operators with and without external short-range perturbations. We also show the nonexistence of the considered wave operators when the Hardy or external potentials are long-range. We arrive at these results using three different approaches. The first approach uses an abstract semigroup framework for asymptotic completeness of wave operators for Fourier multipliers with short-range potentials. The second approach uses Kato smoothness theory. In the third approach, we develop and apply new propagation estimates for Hardy operators with and without perturbations.

Local-basis Shannon entropies of critical wave functions contain universal subleading information, but the Shannon point of the critical transverse-field Ising chain is singular in the conventional Rényi approach. We treat it directly at $n=1$ by representing the complete computational-basis Born distribution as the odd-degree boundary of independent long-range Bernoulli edges. The Shannon chain rule separates the entropy into explicit independent-edge and conditional cycle-space terms. For the periodic chain this isolates the analytic edge anomaly and organizes the remaining constant by linked vertex support. Conditional on the stated finite-part matching and forest assumptions, every nonvanishing linked coefficient is represented by an explicit finite-dimensional integral, giving an all-orders analytic hierarchy; the four-vertex term is evaluated in closed form, and the first few linked sectors already nearly saturate the established periodic constant, which is also reconstructed independently from the exact finite-size distribution. For an interval, the exterior reduces exactly to one ghost vertex and the explicit squared logarithms cancel, leaving the analytic edge contribution $\gamma_E=\log2/4-1/16$. The conditional cycle term has an exact all-support decomposition into physical-line and ghost-linked sectors; conditional on closure of the boundary forest subtraction, these sectors define an all-orders hierarchy of renormalized line and monomer–dimer boundary periods for the remaining logarithmic coefficient. The first complete augmented linked coefficient is evaluated in closed form, with an exact cancellation between its line and ghost boundary-layer anomalies; an independent reconstruction from exact finite-size probabilities recovers the established coefficient $\gamma_1=0.060020(3)$.

Metric theories of gravity admit a massless breathing scalar $b$ besides the tensor modes $+$ and $\times$. Many scalar–tensor models predict a much smaller breathing amplitude; gravitational quantum field theory (GQFT) instead allows $h_b$ comparable to the tensor amplitudes. We evaluate the LIGO–Virgo–KAGRA (LVK) antenna patterns with PyCBC, including Michelson suppression of $b$. Here $F_b$ is the breathing antenna pattern and $\mathcal{S}_b=\sum_d F_b^{d2}$ is the network breathing power. At the H1 zenith at the GW150914 epoch, $F_b\sim 5\times 10^{-6}$; for $72$ Gravitational-wave Transient Catalog (GWTC) events with packaged strain the median inclination gain in $\mathcal{S}_b$ is $\sim 34\times$. Ranking multi-detector GWTC events (network $\mathrm{SNR}\ge 8$, $\ge 2$ sites) by $\mathrm{SNR}\sqrt{\mathcal{S}_b^{*}}$ identifies loud O4 triggers and GW170817 as geometric targets. Parameter-estimation (PE) weighted $\mathcal{S}_b$ on twelve events shows that the true sky can suppress this ranking (GW170817) and that GW200129_065458, GW150914, and GW190814 have the highest PE-weighted $\mathcal{S}_b$ for $\xi$ in $h_b=\xi h_+$ (GR: $\xi\equiv 0$). An HLV design-noise injection grid gives $\ln B(\mathrm{GR}+b/\mathrm{GR})\approx 13$ ($4$) for $\xi=1$ ($0.5$) on an inclined sky ($\mathcal{S}_b\sim 0.18$); near zenith ($\mathcal{S}_b\sim 0.016$) the $\xi$ posterior remains unconstrained. The GWTC limits are semi-joint: masses and spins fixed at PE medians, while $d_L$, $\theta_{JN}$, sky, and $\xi$ vary within PE-informed priors. Eleven of twelve events are analyzed (GW170817 omitted: PE sky on the breathing null). None favors $\mathrm{GR}+b$; $|\xi|_{90\%}\approx 0.15$, $0.18$, and $0.23$ for GW150914, GW200129_065458, and GW200311_115853 disfavor $|\xi|\sim\mathcal{O}(1)$, while weaker bounds (including GW190814) still allow that scale.

We present fourteen TESS Objects of Interest (TOIs) from the SOPHIE-TESS follow-up program. Combining TESS photometry, SOPHIE radial velocities (RVs), ground-based photometry, and high-resolution imaging, we establish the nature of all targets. Nine systems (TOI-6457, TOI-6883A, TOI-6649, TOI-6842A, TOI-5217A, TOI-6893A, TOI-7025, TOI-7176, and TOI-5893) host planets. TOI-6649 b, TOI-6842A b, and TOI-5217A b are transiting hot Jupiters with periods of 4.4-6.0 d, radii of 1.3-1.6 RJ, masses of 0.3-1.3 MJ, and densities of 0.1-0.6 g/cm3. TOI-5217A also hosts an outer companion, TOI-5217A c, with a period of about 1761 d, a minimum mass of about 13 MJ, and an eccentric orbit (e = 0.53 +/- 0.02). TOI-5893 b, TOI-6893A b, TOI-6457 b, TOI-7176 b, and TOI-7025 b are transiting warm Jupiters with periods of 40.4-67.0 d, radii of 0.8-1.2 RJ, and masses of 0.5-1.0 MJ. TOI-6883A b, a recently reported warm Jupiter, is further characterized with new photometry and SOPHIE and TRES RVs. The other five systems (TOI-5621AB, TOI-5321AB, TOI-3678AB, TOI-5906AB, TOI-5308AB) show large RV amplitudes indicating eclipsing binaries (companions of 0.1-0.6 Msun and 0.1-0.6 Rsun). TOI-6842A b is a super-puff (density 0.08 +/- 0.01 g/cm3), among the nine lowest-density planets known, and with a transmission spectroscopy metric of about 250 it is an excellent target for atmospheric characterization. The six warm Jupiters, with equilibrium temperatures of 377-846 K, are low-irradiation benchmarks for hot-Jupiter inflation models. TOI-7025 b has an eccentricity of 0.82 +/- 0.02, one of the largest known for a planet orbiting a single star. Finally, using Gaia astrometric excess noise, we detect TOI-5906 B, the first object identified by transit, RV, and astrometry.

We compute the temperature dependence of effective spin-model parameters in two-sublattice ferrimagnets with antiparallel and inequivalent sublattice magnetizations using Green's-function theory. The effective intra- and intersublattice exchange interactions, together with the sublattice anisotropies, exhibit distinct thermal renormalizations arising from the different magnetic interactions and correlations of the two sublattices. Although these effective interaction parameters decrease monotonically with increasing temperature, their unequal renormalization produces a strongly nonmonotonic and polarization-dependent long-wavelength spin-wave response. In particular, the spin-wave exchange stiffness exhibits a strongly branch-dependent and nonmonotonic temperature dependence. One polarization develops an enhanced spin-wave stiffness in the vicinity of the angular momentum compensation region despite the monotonic thermal reduction of the underlying exchange interactions. The Green's-function predictions are in quantitative agreement with atomistic spin-dynamics simulations, which provide a numerical benchmark including thermally induced spin correlations within the underlying atomistic spin model. These results establish a direct connection between temperature-dependent atomistic interactions, long-wavelength spin-wave stiffness, and the effective parameters required for finite-temperature micromagnetic and multiscale modeling of ferrimagnetic materials.

Superconducting circuits have emerged as one of the most promising and scalable platforms for quantum com- puting, with substantial industrial adoption driving qubit counts steadily upward. Yet the layout of the corresponding chips is still primarily performed manually, consuming multiple days or weeks of expert effort, even for moderately sized designs. Existing automation approaches sidestep this bottleneck by simplifying the underlying problem and relaxing physical constraints. Therefore, they fall short of fabrication-ready results. To overcome this scalability wall without such compromises, we first introduce a formal abstraction that translates physical device characteristics into a rigorous geometric problem formulation. This abstraction bridges physical realization and design automation. Building upon this abstraction, we then propose a three-stage design automation flow comprising geometry-aware global partitioning, ILP-based port assignment, and a hierarchical routing pipeline. Evaluations conducted by our interdisciplinary team of design au- tomation researchers and superconducting hardware experts con- firm that the resulting flow produces complete, manufacturing- ready layouts that comply with the physical design rules at the push of a button. That is, it operates fully automatically within seconds to a few minutes, and solves complex instances up to 25x faster than the state of the art. All methods are released as the fully open-source tool mqt-scpd as part of the Munich Quantum Toolkit, providing the first readily usable, end- to-end design flow for planar superconducting quantum chips that explicitly addresses the underlying physical characteristics and requirements.

We propose a finite-temperature Gaussian-fluctuation formalism for response functions within ghost rotationally invariant slave-boson (gRISB) theory and apply it to the two-dimensional Hubbard model. The gRISB magnetic phase boundary and static spin and charge susceptibilities capture the trends of dynamical mean-field theory (DMFT), significantly improving upon standard RISB and the random phase approximation (RPA). At the RISB level, our formalism recovers the Kotliar-Ruckenstein response. The dynamical susceptibilities resolve paramagnons, low-energy sound modes, and high-energy Hubbard excitations. Because they are evaluated directly on the real-frequency axis, the results avoid Matsubara truncation, stochastic sampling, and numerical analytic continuation. We also introduce a conserving quasiparticle approximation that expresses the response in terms of dressed Green's functions and vertex corrections.

We characterize when a banded totally positive matrix admits a positive bidiagonal factorization. In finite dimension such a factorization always exists. For semi-infinite matrices of arbitrary finite bandwidth, existence is equivalent to convergence of a finite family of positive series determined by the Metelmann factors. Their reciprocals are the limiting values of scalar Jacobi continued fractions. We also prove that every bounded banded totally positive matrix can be approximated in operator norm by matrices admitting positive bidiagonal factorizations, through perturbations confined to a fixed initial block. For banded Toeplitz matrices, the negative roots of the polynomial symbol give a global factorization with bounded factors. Ordered partitions of these roots determine explicit mixed-type multiple orthogonal polynomials. Applying the existing spectral Favard theorem, we compute their matrix of positive measures: its support is one interval, and the measure is purely absolutely continuous with an algebraic density of rank one. These formulas also give transition and first-return laws for the associated killed random walks.

We study $SO(2n)$ gauge theories with a degenerate curvature kinetic operator defined by an orthogonal complex structure. The kinetic image is $\su(n)$, while the adjoint vacuum has stabilizer $U(n)$. We distinguish fixed projectors, unrestricted adjoint Higgs fields, and Higgs fields constrained exactly to the orbit $SO(2n)/U(n)$. For the constrained theory with a positive Higgs kinetic coefficient, the coset connection is auxiliary and the central connection is null. A nonlinear Dirac analysis establishes a regular weak-curvature branch with $2(n^2-1)$ physical degrees of freedom in four dimensions, locally equivalent to $SU(n)$ Yang–Mills theory. Normal Higgs displacements in the unrestricted theory can change the kinetic rank, so this count does not extend to that field space. We also characterize possible algebraic branches. We express the Stelle–West Higgs–gravity action through a common Clifford involution, and introduce projected Pontryagin theories and a full-rank equivariant completion.

An Andreev spin qubit stores a single unpaired spin, yet its coupling to the superconducting phase can be dominated by coherent virtual quasiparticle pairs. We develop a continuum variational description of the odd-parity doublet in a quantum-dot Josephson junction with Coulomb interaction and spin-dependent background tunneling. Retaining configurations with up to two Bogoliubov quasiparticles provides compact analytical expressions for energies and wavefunctions. We benchmark the results against numerical renormalization group calculations and identify sources of error. We obtain closed-form expressions for the conventional and spin-dependent Josephson couplings. Despite their small probability, two-quasiparticle configurations, through coherence with the zero-quasiparticle component, supply exactly half of the leading spin-dependent Josephson coupling even without Coulomb repulsion and dominate it as the repulsion grows. Spin-orbit-induced spin transfer between the dot and the leads produces a Josephson-current contribution that is common to both qubit states and finite at zero phase bias when the dot and lead Zeeman energies differ. We also map the localization of the virtual quasiparticles and the spin density in the leads. The results connect strongly correlated quantum-dot models to effective Hamiltonians used for Andreev-spin-qubit circuits and clarify how the wavefunction structure determines their couplings.

Orbitronics has emerged as a promising approach for generating orbital currents using low cost, abundant materials through the orbital Hall effect. Since orbital current cannot directly interact with the local magnetization of a conventional ferromagnet, a non-magnetic layer with strong spin orbit coupling is required for converting orbital current into spin current. However, the propagation of orbital current across the interface between an orbital source and an orbital to spin converter remains poorly understood. Here, we tuned the Ru/Pt orbital interface from an abrupt interface to a graded interface by introducing a controlled RuPt intermixed layer and quantified the resulting damping like torque efficiencies. A small, intermixed thickness of 0.26 nm enhances the damping like torque efficiency by 15% compared with the abrupt Ru/Pt interface and by 70% compared with the Pt reference. Further increasing the intermixing thickness progressively suppresses the torque efficiency. We attribute this nonmonotonic behavior to the competition between enhanced orbital transmission through a gradual crystal field transition and orbital current dephasing due to alloy disorder and scattering. Our results demonstrate that the orbital-source/converter interface is an active element for controlling orbital transport and provides an experimentally accessible approach for optimizing orbital current transmission and torque generation in orbitronic heterostructures.

Ultralight axion-like particles (ALP) are the well-motivated candidates for the dark matter. In the standard halo model, the ultralight galactic dark matter behaves as a stochastic Gaussian random field, and the polarization angle of the linearly polarized light propagating through the field stochastically oscillates proportional to the field difference between the observer and the source. The statistics of this signal depend on the source size and its distance from the observer relative to the ALP Compton length and coherence length, and therefore on the ALP mass. We present a unified statistical framework for the polarization-oscillation searches with light sources of arbitrary size and distance. We classify the statistics of the stochastic oscillation amplitude into four distinct regimes and provide a seamless description including the transitional regimes between them. Our framework reproduces the signal models in previously known cases including the laboratory-scale searches and searches using pulsars and the cosmic microwave background. We provide a likelihood prescription that incorporates the stochasticity of the signal, and show that uncertainties in source distance must be carefully accounted for, as they can alter the resulting constraints on the ALP-photon coupling by up to a factor of three. Our results provide a consistent basis for interpreting and comparing a broad range of ALP searches with astronomical polarized sources.

The frequency-dependent tidal response of a neutron star is constrained by causality, reality and passivity, which turn a suitably rescaled response into a holomorphic self-map of the upper complex frequency half-plane after some suitable conditions. The Schwarz–Pick theorem then bounds the leading dynamical correction to the tidal deformability from above. In this work we confront this bound with the most recent calculations of the dynamical tidal response in the literature which have also shown that the static tidal deformability and its correction at second order in frequency are tightly correlated. We find that the bound is saturated to within a few per cent, a quantitative confirmation of f-mode dominance in the relativistic regime. The combination of the static deformability with an independent determination of the f-mode frequency thus may provide an equation-of-state-independent upper limit on the dynamical tide.

We present the first holographic study of gravitational form factors (GFFs) of scalar, pseudoscalar and canonical-spin-averaged tensor glueball targets. These observables test gravitational cubic couplings whose physical validity is not established by spectra and static-force calibration. We construct a dynamical Einstein–scalar–axion representation inspired by the Babington–Crooks–Evans adjoint-mass deformation of $\mathcal N=4$ super-Yang–Mills theory and its Type-IIB supergravity dual. Leading ultraviolet source data are retained, while a soft-wall-like infrared reconstruction incorporates asymptotically linear radial mass-squared trajectories. Spectra and Wilson observables fix the parameters at a common Sommer scale without GFF input. The full constrained cubic vertices fail to describe 27 correlated scalar lattice observations, giving $\chi^2/\mathrm{dof}=73.60/27=2.73$. We propose normalized heavy-target (HT) effective cubic couplings for pure-glue matching. HT adopts leading radial shapes suggested by infinitely heavy targets at fixed probe dynamics and normalizes their overlap weights on the physical ground states. With the background, modes and propagators unchanged, HT gives $\chi^2/\mathrm{dof}=16.98/27=0.63$, without numerical adjustment to GFF data. Tensor and scalar source overlaps determine $A$ and the physical normalized trace; the exact finite-mass energy–momentum-tensor relation determines $D$. We predict the pseudoscalar and tensor form factors and three-target Breit pressure and shear profiles. On the reference infrared-decaying axion branch, the HT Breit mass radii are $0.276$, $0.300$ and $0.311\,\mathrm{fm}$, respectively. The results identify gravitational cubic matching as a distinct step beyond background calibration and provide a prescription for further lattice tests.

The development of national policy and legal outputs toward space resource utilization across several countries accelerated after the introduction of the Artemis Accords in 2020. The announcement also further intensified the debate about the necessity of specifying a regime for using space resources on the international level. In 2021 the Legal Subcommittee of the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space finally approved the establishment of its Working Group on Legal Aspects of Space Resource Activities. Therefore, this chapter builds on diplomacy under conditions of polycentric governance and aims to map the diversity of actors' ideas and interests about governance for space resource utilization on the level of the Working Group. The research process follows qualitative analysis methodology and assigns the results into the matrix of prospective alternatives for governing space resources. The available materials of the Working Group including reports and recordings, constitute the core empirical data used in the analysis.

Conductive metal-organic frameworks (c-MOFs) are promising electronic materials, where electronic states critically determine electrical conductivity. However, achieving controllable modulation of these states during crystallization remains challenging. Existing approaches rely either on redesigning framework components or on introducing external dopants after crystallization, making electronic-state regulation dependent on structural modification or postsynthetic doping. Here, we demonstrate a crystallization-enabled in situ proton-management strategy for regulating the electronic state of c-MOFs. Using Co9HHTP4 as a model system, we show that distinct proton environments influence the balance between competing proton-coupled electron-transfer pathways during Co-O framework assembly while preserving the fundamental framework architecture. HNO3-mediated crystallization produces an electronic state consistent with enhanced electron retention within the Co-O framework and results in a single-crystal conductivity of 8.4 * 10-2 S cm-1, nearly four orders of magnitude higher than Co9HHTP4-NaOAc (1.7 * 10-5 S cm-1), together with a substantially reduced transport activation energy. Hall measurements further reveal a pronounced increase in carrier concentration for Co9HHTP4-HNO3, providing direct evidence that the enhanced conductivity is associated with a substantially increased carrier population. These results establish crystallization conditions as an active parameter for programming electronic states and charge transport in conductive frameworks.

Coulomb friction is a non-associated law: it contains a threshold that depends on the contact pressure, i.e. a stress that is not conjugate to any internal variable, hence it admits no dissipation potential in the sense of generalized standard materials (GSM), and the incremental frictional contact problem is not a minimization problem. In this paper, we propose an alternative friction model that retains Coulomb-like behavior while being associated and fully GSM-compatible. Key to our formulation is the introduction of a new internal variable motivated by the microscopic contact state of rough surfaces, whose evolution is driven by the plastic deformation of the asperities. Under a non-decreasing contact pressure and below a threshold pressure, the model recovers Coulomb friction up to an asperity-scale penetration depth. This depth is physically meaningful and can be calibrated to reproduce known tribology results. Under decreasing contact pressures, the model exhibits a memory effect due to irreversible plastic deformation of the asperities, whereas above the pressure threshold it yields a saturation of the frictional traction. We present both penalty and Lagrange multiplier formulations of the model. A 2D finite element implementation of the penalty approach confirms excellent agreement with the classical Coulomb predictions across two benchmark tests.

Transitional millisecond pulsars are often identified through X-ray light-curve morphology, especially by visual comparison with the prototype PSR J1023+0038. Such classifications remain qualitative and lack a calibrated notion of how much variability is already present within the prototype itself. We introduce a Dynamic Time Warping (DTW) framework that compares light curves through moving-window similarity distributions and calibrates candidate-prototype distances against the internal heterogeneity of PSR J1023+0038. In this formulation, a source is not simply asked to resemble one prototype observation, but to remain compatible with the range of morphologies exhibited by the prototype across observations. We apply the method to confirmed and candidate tMSPs and to a control sample of non-tMSP systems. The resulting similarity measure provides a reproducible ranking for tMSP-like behaviour and is therefore useful for candidate triage and archival searches. At the same time, the control sample shows that short-timescale accretion variability can partly mimic tMSP-like morphology, demonstrating that light-curve shape alone is a screening diagnostic rather than a definitive class identifier.

Classical theories of heat conduction in magnetized plasma predict that thermal transport, mediated by Coulomb collisions of electrons, occurs predominantly along magnetic field lines. Recent theoretical and computational studies challenge this description for weakly collisional, magnetized plasmas in which thermal pressure dominates magnetic pressure (so-called high-e̱ta} plasmas). Such plasmas, which include the intracluster medium of galaxy clusters and inertial-confinement-fusion hot spots, are thought to be susceptible to kinetic-scale microinstabilities that can suppress parallel heat conduction. Revised theories of heat conduction accounting for these instabilities have been proposed, but experimental data with which to benchmark them are lacking. Here, we report experiments at the Orion laser facility in which the temporal evolution of temperature of a high-e̱ta}, weakly collisional plasma is sensitive primarily to the thermal conductivity along its initially quasi-laminar magnetic field. We characterize the temperature, density and magnetic field using x-ray spectroscopy and imaging, and proton imaging. Once stochastic magnetic fluctuations develop, the measured temperature evolution requires suppression of thermal conduction by at least an order of magnitude relative to classical predictions, providing the first laboratory evidence linking magnetic microturbulence with suppression of heat conduction in a high-e̱ta} plasma.

We propose G-EXO, an inverse-designed intrastromal corneal exoskeleton for keratoconus. Unlike conventional intracorneal ring approaches, G-EXO is conceived as a patient-customizable, sectorial and anisotropic scaffold whose geometry and stiffness are optimized to redistribute corneal deformation and reduce asymmetric optical aberrations. We develop a three-dimensional finite-element screening model with localized ectatic weakening, physiological intraocular pressure, and an intrastromal reinforcement domain. A representative design produced a modest but consistent reduction in pressure-induced coma, with a mesh-refined estimate of about 5%, while displacement and stress metrics were more numerically stable. The study is presented as a computational feasibility framework rather than a clinical validation. Its main contribution is to formulate intrastromal reinforcement as a free-form optical-biomechanical inverse-design problem. Patient-specific tomography, nonlinear anisotropic corneal mechanics, full optical modeling, and ex-vivo validation are identified as the next steps.

Dissolved oxygen is important for the ocean's ecosystems and biogeochemical cycles. Yet, Earth System Models (ESMs) vary in their simulations of the present-day and future ocean oxygen inventory. To narrow down the uncertainty in estimates of ocean oxygen content, we train a conditional generative diffusion model on outputs of a multi-model ESM ensemble to learn the conditional distribution of upper-ocean oxygen given physical input variables such as temperature and salinity. This generative model has considerable skill in the Atlantic and Southern Oceans, and can generate realistic oxygen samples under conditions not seen in the training data. We validate this model using observational datasets, and use it to generate oxygen fields for models without oxygen data using only temperature and salinity as conditioning inputs. This physics-conditioned extrapolation suggests that model biases in the tropical Pacific Oxygen Minimum Zone may be smaller than currently assumed when considering a larger set of physical ocean states. Our approach provides a complementary way to represent probabilistic multi-model climate distributions.