We report on the first results from a new microwave cavity search for dark matter axions with masses above $20\mu \mathrm{eV}$. We exclude axion models with two-photon coupling $g_{a\gamma \gamma }\gtrsim 2\times {10}^{-14}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$ over the range $23.55<m_a<24.0\mu \mathrm{eV}$. These results represent two important achievements. First, we have reached cosmologically relevant sensitivity an order of magnitude higher in mass than any existing limits. Second, by incorporating a dilution refrigerator and Josephson parametric amplifier, we have demonstrated total noise approaching the standard quantum limit for the first time in an axion search.

Collective phenomena emerging from nonlinear interactions between multiple oscillators, such as synchronization and frequency locking, find applications in a wide variety of fields. Optomechanical resonators, which are intrinsically nonlinear, combine the scientific assets of mechanical devices with the possibility of long distance controlled interactions enabled by traveling light. Here we demonstrate light-mediated frequency locking of three distant nano-optomechanical oscillators positioned in a cascaded configuration. The oscillators, integrated on a chip along a common coupling waveguide, are optically driven with a single laser and oscillate at gigahertz frequency. Despite an initial mechanical frequency disorder of hundreds of kilohertz, the guided light locks them all with a clear transition in the optical output. The experimental results are described by Langevin equations, paving the way to scalable cascaded optomechanical configurations.

Process-directed self-assembly of block copolymers refers to thermodynamic processes that reproducibly direct the kinetics of structure formation from a starting, unstable state into a selected, metastable mesostructure. We investigate the kinetics of self-assembly of linear $ACB$ triblock copolymers after a rapid transformation of the middle $C$ block from $B$ to $A$. This prototypical process (e.g., photochemical transformation) converts the initial, equilibrium mesophase of the $ABB$ copolymer into a well-defined but unstable, starting state of the $AAB$ copolymer. The spontaneous structure formation that ensues from this unstable state becomes trapped in a metastable mesostructure, and we systematically explore which metastable mesostructures can be fabricated by varying the block copolymer composition of the initial and final states. In addition to the equilibrium mesophases of linear $AB$ diblock copolymers, this diagram of process-accessible states includes 7 metastable periodic mesostructures, inter alia, Schoen’s F-RD periodic minimal surface. Generally, we observe that the final, metastable mesostructure of the $AAB$ copolymer possesses the same symmetry as the initial, equilibrium mesophase of the $ABB$ copolymer.

Bell’s theorem states that some predictions of quantum mechanics cannot be reproduced by a local-realist theory. That conflict is expressed by Bell’s inequality, which is usually derived under the assumption that there are no statistical correlations between the choices of measurement settings and anything else that can causally affect the measurement outcomes. In previous experiments, this “freedom of choice” was addressed by ensuring that selection of measurement settings via conventional “quantum random number generators” was spacelike separated from the entangled particle creation. This, however, left open the possibility that an unknown cause affected both the setting choices and measurement outcomes as recently as mere microseconds before each experimental trial. Here we report on a new experimental test of Bell’s inequality that, for the first time, uses distant astronomical sources as “cosmic setting generators.” In our tests with polarization-entangled photons, measurement settings were chosen using real-time observations of Milky Way stars while simultaneously ensuring locality. Assuming fair sampling for all detected photons, and that each stellar photon’s color was set at emission, we observe statistically significant $\gtrsim 7.31\sigma$ and $\gtrsim 11.93\sigma$ violations of Bell’s inequality with estimated $p$ values of $\lesssim 1.8\times {10}^{-13}$ and $\lesssim 4.0\times {10}^{-33}$, respectively, thereby pushing back by $\sim 600\text{years}$ the most recent time by which any local-realist influences could have engineered the observed Bell violation.

The Sun’s internal rotation $\mathrm{\Omega }(r,\mathrm{\Theta })$ has previously been measured using helioseismology techniques and found to be a complex function of colatitude $\theta$ and radius $r$. From helioseismology and observations of apparently “rooted” solar magnetic tracers, we know that the surface rotates more slowly than much of the interior. The cause of this slow-down is not understood, but it is important for understanding stellar rotation generally and any plausible theory of the solar interior. A new analysis using 5-min solar $p$-mode limb oscillations as a rotation “tracer” finds an even larger velocity gradient in a thin region at the top of the photosphere. This shear occurs where the solar atmosphere radiates energy and angular momentum. We suggest that the net effect of the photospheric angular momentum loss is similar to Poynting-Robertson “photon braking” on, for example, Sun-orbiting dust. The resultant photospheric torque is readily computed and, over the Sun’s lifetime, is found to be comparable to the apparent angular momentum deficit in the near-surface shear layer.

Measurements of the cross section for producing $b$ quarks in the reaction $pp\to b\overline{b}X$ are reported in 7 and 13 TeV collisions at the LHC as a function of the pseudorapidity $\eta$ in the range $2<\eta <5$ covered by the acceptance of the LHCb experiment. The measurements are done using semileptonic decays of $b$-flavored hadrons decaying into a ground-state charmed hadron in association with a muon. The cross sections in the covered $\eta$ range are $72.0\pm 0.3\pm 6.8$ and $154.3\pm 1.5\pm 14.3\mu \mathrm{b}$ for 7 and 13 TeV. The ratio is $2.14\pm 0.02\pm 0.13$, where the quoted uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. The agreement with theoretical expectation is good at 7 TeV, but differs somewhat at 13 TeV. The measured ratio of cross sections is larger at lower $\eta$ than the model prediction.

The performance of quantum heat engines is generally based on the analysis of a single cycle. We challenge this approach by showing that the total work performed by a quantum engine need not be proportional to the number of cycles. Furthermore, optimizing the engine over multiple cycles leads to the identification of scenarios with a quantum enhancement. We demonstrate our findings with a quantum Otto engine based on a two-level system as the working substance that supplies power to an external oscillator.

In recent synchrotron radiation facilities, the use of short (picosecond) electron bunches is a powerful method for producing giant pulses of terahertz coherent synchrotron radiation. Here we report on the first direct observation of these pulse shapes with a few picoseconds resolution, and of their dynamics over a long time. We thus confirm in a very direct way the theories predicting an interplay between two physical processes. Below a critical bunch charge, we observe a train of identical THz pulses (a broadband Terahertz comb) stemming from the shortness of the electron bunches. Above this threshold, a large part of the emission is dominated by drifting structures, which appear through spontaneous self-organization. These challenging single-shot THz recordings are made possible by using a recently developed photonic time stretch detector with a high sensitivity. The experiment has been realized at the SOLEIL storage ring.

We report on the production of a stable mixture of bosonic and fermionic superfluids composed of the elements ${}^{174}\mathrm{Yb}$ and ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$ which feature a strong mismatch in mass and distinct electronic properties. We demonstrate elastic coupling between the superfluids by observing the shift in dipole oscillation frequency of the bosonic component due to the presence of the fermions. The measured magnitude of the shift is consistent with a mean-field model and its direction determines the previously unknown sign of the interspecies scattering length to be positive. We also observe the exchange of angular momentum between the superfluids from the excitation of a scissors mode in the bosonic component through interspecies interactions. We explain this observation using an analytical model based on superfluid hydrodynamics.

Recently, Weyl fermions have attracted increasing interest in condensed matter physics due to their rich phenomenology originated from their nontrivial monopole charges. Here, we present a theory of real Dirac points that can be understood as real monopoles in momentum space, serving as a real generalization of Weyl fermions with the reality being endowed by the $PT$ symmetry. The real counterparts of topological features of Weyl semimetals, such as Nielsen-Ninomiya no-go theorem, 2D subtopological insulators, and Fermi arcs, are studied in the $PT$ symmetric Dirac semimetals and the underlying reality-dependent topological structures are discussed. In particular, we construct a minimal model of the real Dirac semimetals based on recently proposed cold atom experiments and quantum materials about $PT$ symmetric Dirac nodal line semimetals.

Adopting quantum communication to modern networking requires transmitting quantum information through a fiber-based infrastructure. We report the first demonstration of superdense coding over optical fiber links, taking advantage of a complete Bell-state measurement enabled by time-polarization hyperentanglement, linear optics, and common single-photon detectors. We demonstrate the highest single-qubit channel capacity to date utilizing linear optics, $1.665\pm 0.018$, and we provide a full experimental implementation of a hybrid, quantum-classical communication protocol for image transfer.

We crystallize up to 15 ${{}^{40}\mathrm{Ca}}^{+}$ ions in a ring with a microfabricated silicon surface Paul trap. Delocalization of the Doppler laser-cooled ions shows that the translational symmetry of the ion ring is preserved at millikelvin temperatures. By characterizing the collective motion of the ion crystals, we identify homogeneous electric fields as the dominant symmetry-breaking mechanism at this energy scale. With increasing ion numbers, such detrimental effects are reduced. We predict that, with only a ten-ion ring, uncompensated homogeneous fields will not break the translational symmetry of the rotational ground state. This experiment opens a door towards studying quantum many-body physics with translational symmetry at the single-particle level.

By analyzing the dissipative dynamics of a tunable gap flux qubit, we extract both sides of its two-sided environmental flux noise spectral density over a range of frequencies around $2k_{B}T/h\approx 1\mathrm{GHz}$, allowing for the observation of a classical-quantum crossover. Below the crossover point, the symmetric noise component follows a $1/f$ power law that matches the magnitude of the $1/f$ noise near 1 Hz. The antisymmetric component displays a $1/T$ dependence below 100 mK, providing dynamical evidence for a paramagnetic environment. Extrapolating the two-sided spectrum predicts the linewidth and reorganization energy of incoherent resonant tunneling between flux qubit wells.

An on-chip electron spin resonance technique is applied to reveal the nature and origin of surface spins on ${\mathrm{Al}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$. We measure a spin density of $2.2\times 10^{17}\text{spins}/{\mathrm{m}}^2$, attributed to physisorbed atomic hydrogen and $S=1/2$ electron spin states on the surface. This is direct evidence for the nature of spins responsible for flux noise in quantum circuits, which has been an issue of interest for several decades. Our findings open up a new approach to the identification and controlled reduction of paramagnetic sources of noise and decoherence in superconducting quantum devices.

We report on Raman sideband cooling of ${{}^{25}\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}$ to sympathetically cool the secular modes of motion in a ${{}^{25}\mathrm{Mg}}^{+}\text{−}{{}^{27}\mathrm{Al}}^{+}$ two-ion pair to near the three-dimensional (3D) ground state. The evolution of the Fock-state distribution during the cooling process is studied using a rate-equation simulation, and various heating sources that limit the efficiency of 3D sideband cooling in our system are discussed. We characterize the residual energy and heating rates of all of the secular modes of motion and estimate a secular motion time-dilation shift of $-(1.9\pm 0.1)\times {10}^{-18}$ for an ${{}^{27}\mathrm{Al}}^{+}$ clock at a typical clock probe duration of 150 ms. This is a 50-fold reduction in the secular motion time-dilation shift uncertainty in comparison with previous ${{}^{27}\mathrm{Al}}^{+}$ clocks.

Self-organization and nonequilibrium phase transitions are well known to occur in two- and three-dimensional dissipative systems. Here, instead, we provide numerical evidence that these phenomena also occur in a one-dimensional Hamiltonian system. To this end, we calculate the heat conductivity by coupling the two ends of our system to two heat baths at different temperatures. It is found that when the temperature difference is smaller than a critical value, the heat conductivity increases with the system size in power law with an exponent considerably smaller than 1. However, as the temperature difference exceeds the critical value, the system’s behavior undergoes a transition and the heat conductivity tends to diverge linearly with the system size. Correspondingly, an ordered structure emerges. These findings suggest a new direction for exploring the transport problems in one dimension.

We report a lattice QCD calculation of the strange quark contribution to the nucleon’s magnetic moment and charge radius. This analysis presents the first direct determination of strange electromagnetic form factors including at the physical pion mass. We perform a model-independent extraction of the strange magnetic moment and the strange charge radius from the electromagnetic form factors in the momentum transfer range of $0.051{\mathrm{GeV}}^2\lesssim Q^2\lesssim 1.31{\mathrm{GeV}}^2$. The finite lattice spacing and finite volume corrections are included in a global fit with 24 valence quark masses on four lattices with different lattice spacings, different volumes, and four sea quark masses including one at the physical pion mass. We obtain the strange magnetic moment $G_M^s(0)=-0.064(14)(09){\mu }_N$. The four-sigma precision in statistics is achieved partly due to low-mode averaging of the quark loop and low-mode substitution to improve the statistics of the nucleon propagator. We also obtain the strange charge radius $⟨r_s^2{⟩}_E=-0.0043(16)(14){\mathrm{fm}}^2$.

A stable nonlinear wave packet, self-localized in all three dimensions, is an intriguing and much sought after object in nonlinear science in general and in nonlinear photonics in particular. We report on the experimental observation of mode-locked spatial laser solitons in a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser with frequency-selective feedback from an external cavity. These spontaneously emerging and long-term stable spatiotemporal structures have a pulse length shorter than the cavity round-trip time and may pave the way to completely independent cavity light bullets.

Three-dimensional topological Weyl semimetals can generally support a zero-dimensional Weyl point characterized by a quantized Chern number or a one-dimensional Weyl nodal ring characterized by a quantized Berry phase in the momentum space. Here, in a dissipative system with particle gain and loss, we discover a new type of topological ring, dubbed a Weyl exceptional ring consisting of exceptional points at which two eigenstates coalesce. Such a Weyl exceptional ring is characterized by both a quantized Chern number and a quantized Berry phase, which are defined via the Riemann surface. We propose an experimental scheme to realize and measure the Weyl exceptional ring in a dissipative cold atomic gas trapped in an optical lattice.

Black phosphorene (BlackP), consisting of a vertically corrugated yet single layer of phosphorus atoms, is a latest member of the expanding two-dimensional (2D) materials family with high carrier mobility and immense application potentials. Blue phosphorene (BlueP), an allotrope of BlackP with appealing properties of its own, consists of a more flatly arranged layer of phosphorus atoms. To date, direct growth of either BlackP or BlueP remains a daunting challenge. Using first-principles approaches, here we establish a novel kinetic pathway for fabricating BlueP via epitaxial growth. Our systematic energetic studies reveal that both BlackP and BlueP monolayers can be readily stabilized on Cu(111), Au(111), and GaN(001) substrates. The semiconducting GaN(001) is further shown to be superior for fabricating BlueP, through an intriguing half-layer-by-half-layer (HLBHL) growth mechanism. Within this scheme, the GaN(001) surface is first preferentially covered by a half layer of phosphorus adatoms, followed by the addition of the other half. Once formed, such a BlueP monolayer is thermodynamically stable, as tested using ab initio molecular dynamics simulations. The HLBHL growth mechanism discovered here may enable mass production of high-quality BlueP, and could also be instrumental in achieving epitaxial growth of BlackP and other 2D materials.