We present a new method to measure or constrain $p$-wave-suppressed cross sections for dark matter (DM) annihilations inside the steep density spikes induced by supermassive black holes. We demonstrate that the high DM densities, together with the increased velocity dispersion, within such spikes combine to make thermal $p$-wave annihilation cross sections potentially visible in $\gamma$-ray observations of the Galactic center (GC). The resulting DM signal is a bright central point source with emission originating from DM annihilations in the absence of a detectable spatially extended signal from the halo. We define two simple reference theories of DM with a thermal $p$-wave annihilation cross section and establish new limits on the combined particle and astrophysical parameter space of these models, demonstrating that Fermi Large Area Telescope is currently sensitive to thermal $p$-wave DM over a wide range of possible scenarios for the DM distribution in the GC.

This Letter presents the experimental characterization of nonreciprocal elastic wave transmission in a single-mode elastic waveguide. This asymmetric system is obtained by coupling a selection layer with a conversion layer: the selection component is provided by a phononic crystal, while the conversion is achieved by a nonlinear self-demodulation effect in a 3D unconsolidated granular medium. A quantitative experimental study of this acoustic rectifier indicates a high rectifying ratio, up to $10^6$, with wide band (10 kHz) and an audible effect. Moreover, this system allows for wave-packet rectification and extends the future applications of asymmetric systems.

Phenotype switching with and without sensing environment is a common strategy of organisms to survive in a fluctuating environment. Understanding the evolutionary advantages of switching and sensing requires a quantitative evaluation of their fitness gain and its fluctuation together with the conditions for the switching and sensing strategies being adapted to a given environment. In this work, by using a pathwise formulation of the population dynamics, we show that the optimal switching strategy is characterized by a consistency condition for time-forward and backward path probabilities. The formulation also clarifies the underlying information-theoretic aspect of selection as a passive information compression. The loss of fitness by a suboptimal strategy is also shown to satisfy a fluctuation relation, which provides us with the information on how environmental fluctuation impacts the advantages of the optimal strategy. These results are naturally extended to the situation that organisms can use an environmental signal by actively sensing the environment. The fluctuation relations of the fitness gain by sensing are derived in which the multivariate mutual information among the phenotype, the environment, and the signal plays the role to quantify the relevant information in the signal for the fitness gain.

Quantum steering refers to the possibility for Alice to remotely steer Bob’s state by performing local measurements on her half of a bipartite system. Two necessary ingredients for steering are entanglement and incompatibility of Alice’s measurements. In particular, it is known that for the case of pure states of maximal Schmidt rank the problem of steerability for Bob’s assemblage is equivalent to the problem of joint measurability for Alice’s observables. We show that such an equivalence holds in general; namely, the steerability of any assemblage can always be formulated as a joint measurability problem, and vice versa. We use this connection to introduce steering inequalities from joint measurability criteria and develop quantifiers for the incompatibility of measurements.

We use scanning tunneling microscopy to visualize and thermal desorption spectroscopy to quantitatively measure that the binding of naphthalene molecules to graphene, a case of pure van der Waals interaction, strengthens with $n$ and weakens with $p$ doping of graphene. Density-functional theory calculations that include the van der Waals interaction in a seamless, ab initio way accurately reproduce the observed trend in binding energies. Based on a model calculation, we propose that the van der Waals interaction is modified by changing the spatial extent of graphene’s $\pi$ orbitals via doping.

In this Letter, we address the relationship between the statistical fluctuations of grain displacements for a full quasistatic plane shear experiment, and the corresponding anomalous diffusion exponent $\alpha$. We experimentally validate a particular case of the Tsallis-Bukman scaling law, $\alpha =2/(3-q)$, where $q$ is obtained by fitting the probability density function (PDF) of the displacement fluctuations with a $q$-Gaussian distribution, and the diffusion exponent is measured independently during the experiment. Applying an original technique, we are able to evince a transition from an anomalous diffusion regime to a Brownian behavior as a function of the length of the strain window used to calculate the displacements of the grains. The outstanding conformity of fitting curves to a massive amount of experimental data shows a clear broadening of the fluctuation PDFs as the length of the strain window decreases, and an increment in the value of the diffusion exponent—anomalous diffusion. Regardless of the size of the strain window considered in the measurements, we show that the Tsallis-Bukman scaling law remains valid, which is the first experimental verification of this relationship for a classical system at different diffusion regimes. We also note that the spatial correlations show marked similarities to the turbulence in fluids, a promising indication that this type of analysis can be used to explore the origins of the macroscopic friction in confined granular materials.

The dwarf spheroidal satellite galaxies (dSphs) of the Milky Way are some of the most dark matter (DM) dominated objects known. We report on $\gamma$-ray observations of Milky Way dSphs based on six years of Fermi Large Area Telescope data processed with the new Pass8 event-level analysis. None of the dSphs are significantly detected in $\gamma$ rays, and we present upper limits on the DM annihilation cross section from a combined analysis of 15 dSphs. These constraints are among the strongest and most robust to date and lie below the canonical thermal relic cross section for DM of mass $\lesssim 100\mathrm{GeV}$ annihilating via quark and $\tau$-lepton channels.

Evaporation is the process by which water changes from a liquid to a gas or vapor, and is a key step in Earth’s water cycle. At the molecular level, evaporation requires breaking at least one very strong intermolecular bond between two water molecules at the interface. Despite the importance of this process the molecular mechanism by which an evaporating water molecule gains sufficient energy to escape from the surface has remained elusive. Here, we show, using molecular dynamics simulations at the water-air interface with polarizable classical force field models, that the high kinetic energy of the evaporated water molecule is enabled by a well-timed making and breaking of hydrogen bonds involving at least three water molecules at the interface, the recoil of which allows one of the molecules to escape. The evaporation of water is thus enabled by concerted, ultrafast hydrogen-bond dynamics of interfacial water, and follows one specific molecular pathway.

The influence of hydrodynamic forces on eukaryotic flagella synchronization is investigated by triggering phase locking between a controlled external flow and the flagella of C. reinhardtii. Hydrodynamic forces required for synchronization are over an order of magnitude larger than hydrodynamic forces experienced in physiological conditions. Our results suggest that synchronization is due instead to coupling through cell internal fibers connecting the flagella. This conclusion is confirmed by observations of the vfl3 mutant, with impaired mechanical connection between the flagella.

In nonlinear dynamical systems, qualitatively distinct phenomena occur depending continuously on the size of the bounded domain containing the system. For nonlinear waves, a multimode waveguide is a bounded three-dimensional domain, allowing observation of dynamics impossible in open settings. Here we study radiation emitted by bounded nonlinear waves: the spatiotemporal oscillations of solitons in multimode fiber generate multimode dispersive waves over an ultrabroadband spectral range. This work suggests routes to sources of coherent electromagnetic waves with unprecedented spectral range.

Shear thickening is a widespread phenomenon in suspension flow that, despite sustained study, is still the subject of much debate. The longstanding view that shear thickening is due to hydrodynamic clusters has been challenged by recent theory and simulations suggesting that contact forces dominate, not only in discontinuous, but also in continuous shear thickening. Here, we settle this dispute using shear reversal experiments on micron-sized silica and latex particles to measure directly the hydrodynamic and contact force contributions to shear thickening. We find that contact forces dominate even continuous shear thickening. Computer simulations show that these forces most likely arise from frictional interactions.

The energy spacing between the spin-doublet bound state of ${}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}(1^{+},0^{+})$ was determined to be $1406\pm 2\pm 2\mathrm{keV}$, by measuring $\gamma$ rays for the $1^{+}\to 0^{+}$ transition with a high efficiency germanium detector array in coincidence with the ${}^4\mathrm{He}(K^{-},{\pi }^{-}){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$ reaction at J-PARC. In comparison to the corresponding energy spacing in the mirror hypernucleus ${}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$, the present result clearly indicates the existence of charge symmetry breaking (CSB) in $\mathrm{\Lambda }N$ interaction. By combining the energy spacings with the known ground-state binding energies, it is also found that the CSB effect is large in the $0^{+}$ ground state but is vanishingly small in the $1^{+}$ excited state, demonstrating that the $\mathrm{\Lambda }N$ CSB interaction has spin dependence.

A new class of solutions to the electroweak hierarchy problem is presented that does not require either weak-scale dynamics or anthropics. Dynamical evolution during the early Universe drives the Higgs boson mass to a value much smaller than the cutoff. The simplest model has the particle content of the standard model plus a QCD axion and an inflation sector. The highest cutoff achieved in any technically natural model is ${10}^8\mathrm{GeV}$.

The dimeric motor protein kinesin-1 moves processively along microtubules against forces of up to 7 pN. However, the mechanism of force generation is still debated. Here, we point to the crucial importance of diffusion of the tethered motor domain for the stepping of kinesin-1: small crowders stop the motor at a viscosity of 5 $\mathrm{m}\mathrm{P}\mathrm{a}·\mathrm{s}$—corresponding to a hydrodynamic load in the sub-fN ($\sim 10^{-4}\mathrm{pN}$) range—whereas large crowders have no impact even at viscosities above 100 $\mathrm{m}\mathrm{P}\mathrm{a}·\mathrm{s}$. This indicates that the scale-dependent, effective viscosity experienced by the tethered motor domain is a key factor determining kinesin’s functionality. Our results emphasize the role of diffusion in the kinesin-1 stepping mechanism and the general importance of the viscosity scaling paradigm in nanomechanics.

We report on the deterministic preparation of antiferromagnetic Heisenberg spin chains consisting of up to four fermionic atoms in a one-dimensional trap. These chains are stabilized by strong repulsive interactions between the two spin components without the need for an external periodic potential. We independently characterize the spin configuration of the chains by measuring the spin orientation of the outermost particle in the trap and by projecting the spatial wave function of one spin component on single-particle trap levels. Our results are in good agreement with a spin-chain model for fermionized particles and with numerically exact diagonalizations of the full few-fermion system.

Circadian clocks exhibit the robustness of period and plasticity of phase against environmental changes such as temperature and nutrient conditions. Thus far, however, it is unclear how both are simultaneously achieved. By investigating distinct models of circadian clocks, we demonstrate reciprocity between robustness and plasticity: higher robustness in the period implies higher plasticity in the phase, where changes in period and in phase follow a linear relationship with a negative coefficient. The robustness of period is achieved by the adaptation on the limit cycle via a concentration change of a buffer molecule, whose temporal change leads to a phase shift following a shift of the limit-cycle orbit in phase space. Generality of reciprocity in clocks with the adaptation mechanism is confirmed with theoretical analysis of simple models, while biological significance is discussed.

The second law of thermodynamics places a limitation into which states a system can evolve into. For systems in contact with a heat bath, it can be combined with the law of energy conservation, and it says that a system can only evolve into another if the free energy goes down. Recently, it’s been shown that there are actually many second laws, and that it is only for large macroscopic systems that they all become equivalent to the ordinary one. These additional second laws also hold for quantum systems, and are, in fact, often more relevant in this regime. They place a restriction on how the probabilities of energy levels can evolve. Here, we consider additional restrictions on how the coherences between energy levels can evolve. Coherences can only go down, and we provide a set of restrictions which limit the extent to which they can be maintained. We find that coherences over energy levels must decay at rates that are suitably adapted to the transition rates between energy levels. We show that the limitations are matched in the case of a single qubit, in which case we obtain the full characterization of state-to-state transformations. For higher dimensions, we conjecture that more severe constraints exist. We also introduce a new class of thermodynamical operations which allow for greater manipulation of coherences and study its power with respect to a class of operations known as thermal operations.

Knowledge of the precise rigidity dependence of the helium flux is important in understanding the origin, acceleration, and propagation of cosmic rays. A precise measurement of the helium flux in primary cosmic rays with rigidity (momentum/charge) from 1.9 GV to 3 TV based on 50 million events is presented and compared to the proton flux. The detailed variation with rigidity of the helium flux spectral index is presented for the first time. The spectral index progressively hardens at rigidities larger than 100 GV. The rigidity dependence of the helium flux spectral index is similar to that of the proton spectral index though the magnitudes are different. Remarkably, the spectral index of the proton to helium flux ratio increases with rigidity up to 45 GV and then becomes constant; the flux ratio above 45 GV is well described by a single power law.

We report the first lattice QCD calculation of the complex kaon decay amplitude $A_0$ with physical kinematics, using a ${32}^3\times 64$ lattice volume and a single lattice spacing $a$, with $1/a=1.3784(68)\mathrm{GeV}$. We find $\mathrm{Re}(A_0)=4.66(1.00)(1.26)\times 10^{-7}\mathrm{GeV}$ and $\mathrm{Im}(A_0)=-1.90(1.23)(1.08)\times 10^{-11}\mathrm{GeV}$, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The first value is in approximate agreement with the experimental result: $\mathrm{Re}(A_0)=3.3201(18)\times 10^{-7}\mathrm{GeV}$, while the second can be used to compute the direct $CP$-violating ratio $\mathrm{Re}({ϵ}^{\prime }/ϵ)=1.38(5.15)(4.59)\times 10^{-4}$, which is $2.1\sigma$ below the experimental value $16.6(2.3)\times 10^{-4}$. The real part of $A_0$ is $CP$ conserving and serves as a test of our method while the result for $\mathrm{Re}({ϵ}^{\prime }/ϵ)$ provides a new test of the standard model theory of $CP$ violation, one which can be made more accurate with increasing computer capability.

The blast caused by an intense explosion has been extensively studied in conservative fluids, where the Taylor–von Neumann–Sedov hydrodynamic solution is a prototypical example of self-similarity driven by conservation laws. In dissipative media, however, energy conservation is violated, yet a distinctive self-similar solution appears. It hinges on the decoupling of random and coherent motion permitted by a broad class of dissipative mechanisms. This enforces a peculiar layered structure in the shock, for which we derive the full hydrodynamic solution, validated by a microscopic approach based on molecular dynamics simulations. We predict and evidence a succession of temporal regimes, as well as a long-time corrugation instability, also self-similar, which disrupts the blast boundary. These generic results may apply from astrophysical systems to granular gases, and invite further cross-fertilization between microscopic and hydrodynamic approaches of shock waves.