Papers

Hidden beneath the vanishing charge Hall response of altermagnets are spin-up and spin-down Hall currents of opposite sign—concealed, not absent—whose cancellation is enforced by symmetry. When these spin states are locked to distinct valleys, the hidden currents constitute a spin-valley Hall effect. Here we show that in 2D altermagnets with spin-valley-layer coupling (SVLC), a gate field unveils this hidden spin-valley Hall response.~By lifting the symmetry-enforced compensation between valleys with opposite layer polarizations, the field converts the hidden response into a net charge Hall signal, yielding a gate-switchable electric Hall effect (EHE) enabled by SVLC. Using collinear spin layer group (cSLG) theory, we classify all 158 altermagnetic cSLGs, identify 32 that support SVLC, and predict monolayer Mg$_2$Os$_2$(SO$_5$)$_2$ and the Ca(CoN)$_2$-family as candidate materials. First-principles calculations for Mg$_2$Os$_2$(SO$_5$)$_2$ reveal reversible valley splitting, a gate-switchable Hall response, and a Kerr rotation exceeding 1 mrad whose sign reverses together with the EHE signal. These results establish a symmetry-based route to all-electrical valley-spin control and identify altermagnets as promising platforms for high-performance valley transport and electrically switchable magneto-optics.

The feasibility of real-time track fitting of straight tracks for online event selection is shown in the context of the MUonE experiment. In order to reach the high throughput and low latency required for real-time track fitting, the tracking algorithm is implemented using High-Level Synthesis for an FPGA, which provides provides a balance between flexibility and performance. Hardware tracking results from a test with high-rate muons at the CERN M2 beam are presented. This test, a joint effort by the MUonE and Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experiments, operated with Two-Strip (2S) modules provided by the CMS tracker group. The prototype version of the fitter used in this test achieves 3.75 $\mu$s latency and 7.75 % resource use. A comparison of the results with those obtained from a pure software implementation shows agreement well below relevant uncertainty scales. Developments since the test are also presented, with the hardware algorithm now reaching 1.35 $\mu$s latency and producing pipelined fitting results above 50 MHz while requiring less resources than the initial version. Doing so required including certain assumptions in the algorithm, but these assumptions hold for linear track fitting in general and algorithm remains useful in contexts other than MUonE.

Structural disorder is generally regarded as detrimental to magnetism. Since magnetic properties are governed by both the arrangement of magnetic atoms and the crystal environment, including non-magnetic atoms that mediate exchange interactions, the distinct role of magnetic and non-magnetic disorder remains less understood. The recently reported anti-Heusler alloy, Al$_2$MnCu, forming with $\sim$50% intra-symmetry site disorder (B2) involving the magnetic Mn atom and $\sim$5% inter-symmetry site disorder associated with non-magnetic Al and Cu atoms, offers a good platform to disentangle the individual roles of magnetic and non-magnetic atomic disorder. Our magnetic critical analysis, in the vicinity of the Curie temperature ($T_{\rm C}$), does not lead to any conventional single universality class expected for a standard ferromagnet; instead, the non-monotonic temperature dependence of effective critical exponents points towards more complex magnetic interactions, akin to inhomogeneous ferromagnets. Dc magnetometry complemented by higher-harmonic ac magnetic susceptibility data, further confirms the persistence of locally ordered magnetic clusters above $T_{\rm C}$. Theoretical analysis establishes that the enhancement of the local magnetic ordering temperature arises directly from the strengthening of exchange interactions due to the small degree of non-magnetic disorder, whereas $T_{\rm C}$ is hardly influenced by the much larger level of magnetic-atom disorder. The combined experimental and theoretical investigations on the anti-Heusler alloy Al$_2$MnCu reveal and explain the unusual observation of nonmagnetic disorder-induced elevation of $T_{\rm C}$, providing a paradigm for the counterintuitive role of disorder in magnetic materials.

We predict an intrinsic orbital Nernst effect in reciprocal photonic lattices with real Bloch modes. In the collisionless regime, a thermal gradient generates a transverse angular-displacement response although band angular moments and ordinary Berry curvatures vanish. The response is carried by angular-density dipoles formed through virtual mixing of distinct spatial modes. Their correlation with band velocity survives thermal averaging and is independently recovered from the angular-density readout of unitarily evolved wave packets. Two controls expose the mechanism: a fixed-generator two-level system has zero antisymmetric intrinsic response, and flattening the dispersion suppresses transport without changing the eigenstates. A canonical scalar Maxwell calculation realizes the effect through symmetry-selected virtual channels, even when one band dominates the thermal population. These findings establish an orbital-dipole mechanism for intrinsic thermal angular transport in real photonic bands.

This thesis investigates the application of techniques developed in supersymmetric gauge theories to physical problems in Quantum Field Theory and Gravity, focusing on the Seiberg-Witten (SW) curve and its quantum version. After reviewing the essential concepts of Supersymmetry and the derivation of the SW curve, we explore its applications in both fields. In Quantum Field Theory, we investigate the emergence of Argyres-Douglas theories in the moduli space of supersymmetric models, focusing on extremal correlators. We analyze a conformal model to compute their instanton corrections, finding agreement with predictions from Effective Field Theory, and discuss the implications for analogous observables in Argyres-Douglas theories. In Gravity, we exploit the quantum SW curve and its relation to differential equations describing physical systems. We establish the linear stability of Topological Stars, arising in the fuzzball proposal, under massive charged scalar perturbations. We also investigate charge superradiance in configurations with a horizon and derive a novel hypergeometric representation of the confluent Heun function, relevant to gravitational-wave propagation in the Schwarzschild background. This result yields a new resummed expression for waveform tail contributions, in excellent agreement with numerical data. Finally, beyond the SW formalism, we develop a Machine Learning algorithm based on Hamiltonian Neural Networks to reproduce the geodesics of a neutral particle in a fuzzball geometry. For critical trajectories, our method outperforms standard numerical integrators in both efficiency and accuracy.

We propose a unified $A_4\times Z_2\times U(1)_L$ framework for generating small Dirac neutrino masses and address dark matter through feeble interactions in an extended particle physics model. The model extends the Standard Model with a pair of heavy vector-like neutral $A_4$ fermions $N(N_{L,R})$, two additional flavon fields $\eta$ and $\phi$, among which $\eta$ being a $Z_2$-odd inert scalar and a dark-sector vector-like fermion field $\chi$. We numerically explore the Dirac-sector Yukawa couplings and identify the parameter region that is consistent with the NuFit 6.1 neutrino oscillation data at the $3\sigma$ level. The dark matter candidate $\chi$, stabilized by the $Z_2$ symmetry, is produced non-thermally through the decay $N_L\rightarrow\chi+\eta$. By solving the Boltzmann equation, we find that the observed relic abundance, $\Omega_{\rm DM}h^2\simeq0.12$, can be reproduced for freeze-in couplings of order $\lambda\sim10^{-5.5}$–$10^{-7.5}$ over the considered dark matter mass range. For the chosen parameter space, we also verify the interaction rate remains below the Hubble expansion rate, confirming $\chi$ never reaches thermal equilibrium. Thus, our results demonstrate that the model provides a consistent realization of Dirac neutrino masses and FIMP dark matter within a common symmetry-based setup. The presence of light Dirac RH neutrinos can contribute to the dark radiation and hence the effective degrees of freedom via thermal and non-thermal processes. We further estimate the contribution of the light right-handed neutrinos to \(\Delta N_{\rm eff}\), finding a maximum characteristic value of \(\Delta N_{\rm eff}\simeq0.14\) in the benchmark parameter region.

Computational research in physics requires continuous interplay between simulation and scientific interpretation, demanding substantial specialist effort. Here we introduce Brilliance, a research agent that combines large language models, reusable physics knowledge and numerical simulation to conduct adaptive investigations in accelerator physics. Given a single user prompt, Brilliance designs a fourth-generation synchrotron light source that meets coupled emittance and nonlinear-acceptance requirements. Further exploration yields a design combining sub-10-pm emittance with a large dynamic aperture under realistic engineering constraints, suggesting a route towards hard-X-ray diffraction-limited operation, although the momentum-acceptance target remains unmet. Brilliance also calibrates a model of an operating light source against measured responses, accurately inferring its lattice and calibration errors. Across these studies, Brilliance autonomously revises its computational strategies in response to numerical evidence. These results demonstrate a route towards delegating sustained scientific investigations to agents equipped with domain expertise and numerical tools.

Scaling trapped-ion optical clocks to hundreds of ions remains a major challenge due to inhomogeneous frequency shifts in large ion crystals. Here, we propose a circular surface-trap architecture for a multi-ion optical clock with hundreds of ions. The rotational symmetry of the ion crystal suppresses the main sources of inhomogeneity, quadrupole shift.We investigate the feasibility of a clock based on a ring crystal of 400 $^{40}\mathrm{Ca}^{+}$ ions and propose a suitable experimental setup configuration. We have shown that circular configuration of ions leads to suppression by two orders of magnitude of the quadrupole shift comparing to the linear trap. Combined with stray-field compensation and dynamical decoupling techniques, this architecture provides a pathway toward multi-ion optical clocks with fractional frequency uncertainty at the $10^{-18}$ level and an expected 20-fold improvement in frequency stability compared to single ion clocks.

The Unified Field Bosonization Technique (UFBT) is employed to investigate the single-particle properties of inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids containing localized clusters of impurities in the presence of forward-scattering interactions. Within this framework, fermionic two-point correlation functions are used to derive the leading-order singular contributions to the dynamical density of states (DDOS) and the cross-barrier tunneling conductance. The results reveal distinct power-law behaviours of the DDOS near the impurity cluster and in the far-field regime. The tunneling conductance exhibits a power-law temperature dependence, decreasing with decreasing temperature for repulsive interactions and increasing for attractive interactions, while remaining temperature-independent in the noninteracting limit. The impurity cluster modifies the amplitudes and spatial structure of these observables, whereas their characteristic power-law exponents are determined solely by the interaction parameters. The formulation accommodates arbitrary impurity strengths without requiring perturbative expansions in the impurity or interaction strengths. The characteristic scaling behaviour emerges directly from the fermionic correlation functions, without an explicit renormalization-group (RG) treatment of the impurity strength, while the weak-interaction limit recovers the leading perturbative correction to the tunneling response. These findings establish UFBT as a unified framework for describing local spectral properties and cross-barrier transport in inhomogeneous Luttinger liquids.

Three-dimensional (3D) localization microscopy using rotational point spread functions (PSFs) is fundamentally challenged by limited axial range, poor PSF compactness, and depth-decoding ambiguity – particularly in dense specimens with heavy PSF overlap. To address these limitations, we introduce a 3D localization approach based on tornado wave (ToW)-PSFs, combined with a convolutional neural network (CNN) designed to decode continuous rotational patterns and resolve multi-period axial ambiguity. Our engineered PSF encodes the 3D position of each nanoparticle into a compact double-lobe pattern whose orientation rotates with axial position. This design yields a clean, well-defined structural evolution across an unprecedented 15 um axial range, with an average rotation rate of 21.8 degrees/um, ensuring robust long-range depth encoding. To recover coordinates from overlapping emitters, we systematically benchmark a conventional matching-pursuit (MP) algorithm against our CNN. While MP performs adequately in sparse scenes, the CNN demonstrates exceptional robustness in dense fields, achieving a 70.24% localization accuracy at 20 particles per image-substantially outperforming MP's 22.52% – while also significantly suppressing axial period-jump errors. Experimental validation on nanoparticles confirms reliable single- and multi-particle localization throughout the entire working range. Our results establish ToW-PSFs as a powerful and practical optical encoding strategy for high-density, extended-range 3D localization imaging.

In order to reproduce experimental photoemission spectroscopy (PES) data by using band structure calculations with linearized augmented-plane-wave method, we developed a new method to calculate the atomic-subshell photoelectron differential cross section (PE-DCS) of the valence band. PE-DCS was calculated to be the sum of the products of the partial density of states (PDOS) and the photoionization differential cross section (PI-DCS) of each atomic subshell. To construct an appropriate PDOS beyond the conventional muffin-tin sphere (MTS) PDOS, we proposed a “nearly-neutral atomic sphere", which can be defined as a natural extension of MTS. Although the calculational method for atomic-subshell PI-DCS was the standard Hartree-Fock-Slater method, we developed a new computer code in order to deal with the unoccupied electron shells in the ground state of isolated atoms up to $\sim$10 keV. Details of the PE-DCS calculations were examined by using two simple examples of Na metal and NaCl, and then, the method was applied to hard x-ray PES (HX-PES) data of CuAlO$_2$. The experimental spectra were satisfactorily reproduced, demonstrating the potential applications of our method to HX-PES spectra of many compounds.

Can quantum communication determine the size of an anonymous network when no size bound is known? Classical impossibility proofs rely on the covering lemma: an execution can be reproduced on a larger network with the same local structure. Quantum interference invalidates this argument - a measurement record possible on a network can become impossible on a cover. We show that the impossibility of exact counting nevertheless survives. Our main result is a quantum analogue of the covering lemma that preserves local possibilities rather than complete executions. Within a cyclic covering family, every local measurement outcome possible at a node remains possible at a corresponding node in every sufficiently large network. This holds even after information has travelled around the smaller network, beyond the reach of a simple locality argument. We extend the principle to the universal covering tree and finite covers with sufficiently long cycles. The proof combines tensor-network methods with graph coverings: a common representation across network sizes turns normalization into a constraint on which local outcomes can occur. For uniform synchronous protocols with independently prepared nodes, this support-lifting principle rules out zero-error counting and even the production of a guaranteed finite size bound on anonymous rings and the other cyclic covering families considered here. It also rules out exact leader election with termination in finite time with probability one on these families. Measurements, classical control, and local memory growing with time are allowed; no predetermined running-time bound is assumed. Quantum interference thus defeats execution lifting without enabling infallible certification of network size.

What makes natural languages diversify, in their syntactic structure, even when sharing a largely common origin? We refine our simple model, which focuses on the glassy dynamics induced by a network of interactions between syntactic parameters. Distinguishing between symmetric interaction weights that can be inferred from the observed statistics of syntax across many languages, and additional asymmetric weights assigned at random, we show that both components are needed, with similar overall strength, to account for plausible long-term syntactic dynamics. An approximate balance can combine the glassy metastability provided by the inferred weights with the chaotic diversification induced by the residual asymmetric weights.

Accurate, robust, and efficient interatomic potentials are highly desirable for large-scale molecular dynamics simulations. Although machine-learning interatomic potentials can reproduce first-principles potential-energy surfaces with high accuracy, they typically incur higher computational costs than conventional empirical potentials and may be less reliable outside their training domains. We developed Tersoff-NN, a hybrid machine-learning potential for Si, which retains the analytical radial interactions and cutoff structure of the Tersoff potential while representing its environment-dependent bond-order factor using compact neural networks (NNs). Benchmarks for 32,768-atom systems show that Tersoff-NN is 4-12 times faster than the Behler-Parrinello-type NN potentials tested in this study. Tersoff-NN improves the short-range structure of liquid Si relative to the conventional Tersoff potential, closely reproduces the ab initio radial and angular distributions, and reproduces the equilibrium structure of diamond Si and qualitative energetic trends among several crystalline phases. Furthermore, melt-quench simulations reveal a disordered solid with predominantly four-coordinated, tetrahedral-like local environments. Additionally, characteristic reconstruction motifs are retained on Si surfaces despite their exclusion from the training dataset. A direct comparison with an alternative atom-centered bond-order NN highlights the critical role of physical constraints in ensuring dynamic stability. Despite exhibiting comparable validation errors, the selected triplet-based architecture remains stable, while an alternative model exhibits unphysical bond-order growth and atomic collapse. These results confirm that learning only the bond-order term improves the description of diverse Si environments while retaining substantial computational efficiency and enhancing dynamical stability.

Sample-based quantum linear solvers measure quantum Krylov states $e^{-iAT}|b\rangle$ and reconstruct the solution of $Ax=b$ classically on the observed basis states. We develop this approach for positive-definite systems that arise from elliptic partial differential equations. We show that the sampling guarantees hold in any fixed basis with an efficient transform. We then replace the variational reconstruction by a Galerkin solve on the sampled set. For this reconstruction we derive expected and high-probability energy-norm error bounds, a sample complexity in terms of the smallest sampling probability on an essential set, a computable residual certificate, and a support-completeness theorem for the dephased outcome law. We formulate the method for elliptic problems on Riemannian cross sections. In two dimensions the stiffness matrix is metric-independent in conformal coordinates, and curved vessels lead to the same matrix class. Killing symmetries of the cross section give selection rules for the measurement outcomes, and the Lie derivative of the metric gives first-order bounds for geometric perturbations. We separate operator approximations, whose effect we bound, from sampler approximations, which affect coverage but not the target. As examples we treat the implicit step of pulsatile flow in elliptic, lens-shaped, and curved ducts. In simulations of up to 12 qubits, the number of Fourier modes required for 1% error grows from 14 to 60 while the number of unknowns grows from 64 to 4096. A classical residual-greedy selection is nevertheless more efficient than quantum sampling in all cases studied, consistent with the low measured sampling efficiency. On a six-qubit trapped-ion processor, the measured outcome laws follow a replacement-noise model whose strength grows by about 0.6% per two-qubit gate, and a parity selection rule rejects shots at the predicted rate.

We present a comprehensive broadband spectro-temporal analysis of the dynamically confirmed Galactic black hole transient GS 1354-64 during its 2025-26 outburst, using near-simultaneous observations from Insight-HXMT and XRISM. The high spectral resolution of the XRISM-Resolve microcalorimeter, coupled with the high-cadence broadband coverage of Insight-HXMT, reveals a dramatic evolution in the inner accretion geometry. During the early hard-intermediate state, the spectrum was dominated by a hot Comptonizing corona accompanied by relativistically broadened reflection features. As the outburst progressed, the corona cooled efficiently, the photon index steepened (Gamma >~ 2.5), and the reflection signatures, including the broad Fe K-alpha emission, were quenched, yielding a featureless, disk-dominated continuum. Concurrently, Type-C quasi-periodic oscillations (QPOs) evolved from 0.25 Hz to 6.52 Hz. Cross-spectral timing analysis revealed that the broadband X-ray time lags changed from pronounced positive (hard) delays (~160 ms) at low frequencies to near zero as the source softened. However, a statistical analysis incorporating the measurement uncertainties shows that the broadband lags lack a significant monotonic correlation with the QPO frequency, photon index, or fractional rms. Instead, the scattered lag behavior suggests a competition between positive Comptonization delays and negative thermal reverberation. While the spectral softening and QPO acceleration provide strong evidence for a geometric contraction of the corona (whether interpreted via Lense-Thirring precession or the Two-Component Advective Flow (TCAF) paradigm), the broadband timing properties underscore the turbulent and inhomogeneous nature of the inner flow as the advancing Keplerian disk drives the source into the soft state.

We study dynamical chiral symmetry breaking in $(2{+}1)$-dimensional QED on a rigidly rotating disc, $\Omega R<1$, within the rainbow Schwinger–Dyson framework. At zero temperature the rotation response of the condensate vanishes identically, so $N_c^{\rm SD}(\Omega,T{=}0)=N_c^{\rm SD}(0)=2.60\pm0.01$ (using three operational definitions). At finite temperature, rotation suppresses the condensate through a dominant occupation-reweighting channel, $\hat{\kappa}_{\rm occ}=-1.55$, accounting for $\ge 99.995\%$ of the linearized total response at the reference parameters, with self-consistent feedback amplifying it by $26.5$. The screening channel is reported at fixed regularization, $\hat{\kappa}_{\rm scr}(\varepsilon = 0.01)=-0.97$; its $\varepsilon \to 0$ behavior is logarithmically divergent. The crossover flavor $N^{*}(\Omega)$ falls monotonically at fixed temperature (a corollary). The critical flavor number is unchanged by rotation at $T=0$ (theorem). Together these results set the finite-temperature reference for the model.

A unified framework is proposed to compute a neoclassical equilibrium for tokamaks with non-axisymmetric magnetic perturbations, based on a Hamiltonian description combined with a variational approach that relies on a principle of minimum entropy production. This approach allows for a transparent identification of the respective contributions from different classes of trapped particles in magnetic well minima. Analytic expressions are derived for specific collisionality regimes, and a fast and efficient numerical procedure is devised to compute the entropy production rate. Finding the extremum of the entropy production leads to tractable expressions of transport coefficients that can be computed quickly and efficiently.

The extension of the LUX–ZEPLIN nuclear-recoil analysis to approximately $270\,\mathrm{keV}$ probes a qualitatively new dark-matter regime in which endothermic scattering can suppress conventional low-energy recoils and concentrate the surviving spectrum near the Galactic high-velocity tail. We construct a modular-$S_4$ realization in which a minimal $2N_R+2S$ inverse seesaw accounts for lepton flavor, while a separate pair of Standard-Model-singlet fermions forms the pseudo-Dirac state relevant for high-recoil xenon scattering. The sectors share a common complex modulus $\tau$, so the modular forms selected by charged-lepton and neutrino data also enter the operators generating the dark Dirac mass and Majorana splitting. Our scan yields $181447$ lepton-sector solutions satisfying $\chi^2_{\ell+\nu}<30$, distributed among several disconnected modular regions, and predicts one effectively massless light neutrino at leading order. Restoring the physical scales allows TeV-scale heavy quasi-Dirac neutral fermions with small non-unitarity. We subsequently scan $2\times10^6$ dark-sector points only over flavor-accepted values of $\tau$ and identify common-modulus solutions in the LZ-oriented region $300\,\mathrm{GeV}\le m_\chi\le2\,\mathrm{TeV}$ and $300\,\mathrm{keV}\le\delta\le400\,\mathrm{keV}$. An exploratory two-bin Poisson likelihood, including endothermic xenon kinematics, the Helm form factor, Standard-Halo-Model velocities, Gaussian energy smearing, and profiling over the signal normalization, gives a best grid point at $(m_\chi,\delta)\simeq(1.847\,\mathrm{TeV},371.5\,\mathrm{keV})$, close to the terrestrial inelastic kinematic ceiling. The construction provides a direct link between modular lepton flavor, TeV-scale inverse-seesaw dynamics, and high-recoil inelastic dark matter.

A covalent polymer network is orders of magnitude weaker than individual covalent bonds. This large gap reveals an unrealized potential. The weakness of a network comes not from individual covalent bonds, but from how they are connected. Here we unlock this potential by identifying a topological criterion, involving optimally sparse crosslinks, long chains, and dense entanglements. Optimizing each topological variable alone is insufficient for high strength, yet exceptional strength emerges when they are combined within a narrow regime. We describe the physics of this synergy, and use the criterion to strengthen networks widely used but known to be weak. For example, we prepare a polyacrylamide hydrogel of 90 wt% water, amplifying strength from a commonly reported value of ~0.1 MPa to ~6.5 MPa. The exceptional strength is achieved without sacrificing other properties, such as softness, toughness, and elasticity. The criterion establishes topology as a general design principle for strong polymer networks.

Distributed-input distributed-output (DIDO) systems arise in numerous engineering applications where large numbers of actuators generate spatially distributed physical fields that are monitored by distributed sensors. Developing physically interpretable models that enable real-time optimal control of these systems remains challenging because of the high dimensionality and strong spatial coupling between inputs and outputs. In this work, we propose a physics-based framework for modeling and closed-loop optimal control of DIDO systems from experimental input-output data. First, an effective partial differential equation (PDE) is selected among candidate transport models and discretized on the actuator grid to obtain a minimum-grid representation. Second, the PDE is solved in closed form, which yields an input-output operator with only four physically interpretable parameters. Third, the operator is incorporated into an iterative, constrained quadratic program that accounts for the actuator limits. The framework is demonstrated on the inner 40 x 40 section of the world's highest-resolution Fan Array Wind Generator (FAWG), comprising 1600 independently controlled fans with 36 distributed velocity measurements. The model describes the spatial interaction between the 1600 actuators and the measured velocity field with normalized mean absolute prediction errors of 11-20% for representative actuation patterns. The closed-loop controller reproduces all three prescribed two-dimensional velocity fields with a normalized mean absolute error below 2.3% in fewer than 10 iterations.

The local Hilbert space dimension is a fundamental parameter in quantum many-body systems, but its role in controlling the ergodicity-breaking transition remains less explored. We systematically study this question by introducing toy models of qudits in zero dimensions that exhibit an ergodicity-breaking transition. Using the hybridization condition, we analytically obtain the dependence of the critical value of the interactions on the local Hilbert space dimension. Numerical studies of spectral correlation measures show agreement with the theoretical predictions, hence confirming the existence of the ergodicity-breaking transition in these models. We further introduce a distinct higher spin version of the model and numerically obtain the same critical behavior, demonstrating that the observed critical point is independent of the microscopic structure of interactions considered.

Deep-learning models increasingly rival numerical simulation in Earth-system forecasting, yet forecast error alone cannot determine whether their learned input-output dependencies are physically consistent. Here we introduce sensitivity fidelity as an additional criterion: alongside prediction error, model responses to input perturbations should be examined against a trusted reference or established physical knowledge. In an idealized Rayleigh-Bénard convection benchmark, four surrogate architectures achieved low forecast errors yet encoded markedly different sensitivities. Quantitative comparison with a matched adjoint distinguished the models far more sharply than forecast accuracy and showed that predictive skill and sensitivity fidelity need not coincide, while finite-perturbation experiments further linked these differences to the propagation of initial-condition uncertainty. We then applied this strategy to El Niño-Southern Oscillation prediction, where no adjoint reference exists and learned sensitivities showed event-wise robustness, validity under finite perturbations, and consistency with established precursors. These results identify gradient-based evaluation as a discriminating complement to forecast-error metrics, providing a practical test of whether data-driven Earth-system models learn physically credible dependencies.

We formulate the Generalized Constraint-Controlled Rheological Model (GCCRM) for entangled linear and long-arm-branched polymer melts under sinusoidal periodic shear deformation (SPSD), spanning the linear and strongly nonlinear regimes. Molecular architecture, conformation, chain stretch, flow-active constraints, convective constraint release, dynamic tube dilation, and activated arm retraction define a common upstream molecular state. This state feeds two time-domain constitutive pathways (a configurational stress and a dissipative internal-variable stress) which are recombined before Fourier analysis. For branched polymers, the architecture is described by an entire backbone of molecular weight $M_{bb}$ and $N_a$ long arms of molecular weight $M_a$, with a compliance-weighted representative-constitutive-cell partition. The linear limit is normalized so that the configurational moduli sum to the entanglement modulus, while dynamic tube dilation and stretch drive distinct contributions to dissipative activation. Under reduced closures, GCCRM generates a smooth nonlinear elastic response with an onset of nonlinearity, an approximately logarithmic growth regime, an architecture-dependent maximum, and distinct high-deformation asymptotes. Fourier harmonics, ELR, VLR, and Lissajous curves are treated as post-processing observables of the total stress. The framework establishes a consistent constitutive architecture whose quantitative validation requires one parameter set per material across SPSD and, prospectively, transient shear histories.

Fast radio bursts (FRBs) probe free-electron columns along cosmological sightlines through their dispersion measures (DMs), whereas baryon acoustic oscillations (BAO) constrain cosmic expansion geometry through acoustic distance ratios. In this work, we leverage their distinct physical sensitivities to simultaneously determine the Hubble constant ($H_0$) and cosmic baryon density ($\Omega_{\rm b}$) without external cosmic microwave background (CMB) or Big Bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) priors. Combining 120 localized FRBs and DESI DR2 BAO, we obtain $H_0=71.4^{+2.2}_{-2.5}\ {\rm km\ s^{-1}\ Mpc^{-1}}$ and $\Omega_{\rm b}=0.0503^{+0.0025}_{-0.0021}$ in $\Lambda$CDM, corresponding to precisions of $3.3\%$ and $4.6\%$, respectively. The inferred $H_0$ is statistically consistent with both SH0ES and CMB, and $\Omega_{\rm b}$ agrees with the joint constraint from BBN and CMB. Adopting IllustrisTNG-based DM distributions and fixing the diffuse-gas baryon fraction tightens the constraint to $H_0=68.8\pm1.0\ {\rm km\ s^{-1}\ Mpc^{-1}}$, but lowers the central value toward the CMB-inferred value, identifying extragalactic DM modeling as the dominant systematic uncertainty. These results establish FRB-BAO complementarity as a new avenue for simultaneously constraining $H_0$ and $\Omega_{\rm b}$.

Quantum thermalization of closed systems – i.e. the relaxation of local properties to their thermodynamic value along the Hamiltonian evolution – is generically expected in non-integrable systems at finite energy density. In this work we show that quantum spin systems with at least one spin component coupled through long-range ferromagnetic interactions, and a second spin component coupled to a field, cannot in general thermalize to a paramagnetic state whenever they have a finite, negative energy per spin. The long-range interactions we consider decay as a power law of the distance, $\sim r^{-\alpha}$ with $\alpha < d$, where $d$ is the number of spatial dimensions of the system. The lack of thermalization is generic to an infinite family of Hamiltonians, and it is not associated to any form of integrability. It can instead be understood by the anomalous features of the thermodynamics of the system in the paramagnetic phase, which cannot be reflected in the properties of the eigenstates. This leads to a breakdown of eigenstate typicality and of the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Interestingly, the non-thermal states emerging at long times in the dynamics display long-range multipartite entanglement, elevating the breakdown of thermalization to a resource.

We formulate massless tree-level Compton scattering as an effective two-qubit operation on electron and photon helicities. In the Bell basis, the scattering map separates into two parity sectors and admits a simple quantum circuit representation with one nonunitary filter. After Kraus normalization, this filter defines an unsharp incomplete Bell measurement that distinguishes the two Bell-parity sectors but not the relative Bell label within each sector. We further show that the incomplete measurement alone does not surpass the classical teleportation threshold, whereas a subsequent complete Bell-basis readout enables unit conditional teleportation fidelity.

The timing of BOLD-fMRI is typically chosen such that TE matches T2*. This assumes contrast being exclusively elicited by signal differences at TE. While sensible for short or TE-symmetric readouts, such as EPIs, it oversimplifies contrast generation for longer or TE-asymmetric trajectories, such as spirals. We propose the concept of a BOLD PSF for a more comprehensive perspective on the imaging characteristics of a functional experiment. Our findings indicate that TE can be reduced for spiral-out without sacrificing BOLD-sensitivity when compared to EPI. Furthermore, we characterize the intrinsic trade-off between specificity and resolution of the BOLD response under varying TE.

We demonstrate a compact and robust soliton microcomb source designed for field-deployable operation. A directly fiber-coupled SiN microresonator was integrated with precise thermal control into a palm-sized module, reducing the footprint and volume by 16- and 81-fold, respectively. The module, together with the laser sources and optical amplifiers required for microcomb generation, was further integrated into a 19-inch rack-mounted enclosure, achieving system-level footprint and volume reductions of 2.3- and 3.7-fold, respectively. The packaged system achieved a 90% manual startup success rate and maintained continuous soliton operation for 18.8 days, while remaining operational under substantial temperature variations. A state-based automated startup scheme using discrete microcomb-state evaluation achieved single-soliton generation without manual intervention with success rates of 50% within 2 min and 60% within 3 min. Moreover, automated soliton initiation and sustained operation were demonstrated while the packaged microresonator module was directly subjected to random mechanical vibration. These results provide a practical platform for compact, robust, and field-deployable microcomb sources.

In this paper, we study phase transitions and scalar quasinormal modes(QNMs) of magnetically charged Euler–Heisenberg-dilaton AdS black holes in the extended phase space. We classify the horizon structures for all three signs of the EH coupling and derive the extended first law when the pressure and coupling are varied. For negative coupling, the physical branch exhibits a Van der Waals-like small/large black-hole transition. Using the improved asymptotic iteration method, we find two separated QNM trajectories below the critical pressure, whereas they merge into one continuous curve at the critical point. The GHS limit and the positive couplings considered here do not produce a finite-radius critical point.