We demonstrate cavity-enhanced Raman emission from a single atomic defect in a solid. Our platform is a single silicon-vacancy center in diamond coupled with a monolithic diamond photonic crystal cavity. The cavity enables an unprecedented frequency tuning range of the Raman emission (100 GHz) that significantly exceeds the spectral inhomogeneity of silicon-vacancy centers in diamond nanostructures. We also show that the cavity selectively suppresses the phonon-induced spontaneous emission that degrades the efficiency of Raman photon generation. Our results pave the way towards photon-mediated many-body interactions between solid-state quantum emitters in a nanophotonic platform.

Temporal-spectral modes of light provide a fundamental window into the nature of quantum systems and offer a robust means for information encoding. Methods to precisely characterize the temporal-spectral state of light at the single-photon level thus play a central role in understanding single-photon sources and their applications in emerging optical quantum technologies. Here we demonstrate an optical reference-free method, which melds techniques from ultrafast metrology and single-photon spectral detection, to characterize the pulse-mode structure of heralded single photons.

Exceptional points (EPs) associated with a square-root singularity have been found in many non-Hermitian systems. In most of the studies, the EPs found are isotropic, meaning that the same singular behavior is obtained independent of the direction from which they are approached in the parameter space. In this Letter, we demonstrate both theoretically and experimentally the existence of an anisotropic EP in an acoustic system that shows different singular behaviors when the anisotropic EP is approached from different directions in the parameter space. Such an anisotropic EP arises from the coalescence of two square-root EPs having the same chirality.

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations reveal an exotic metallic phase with a single-particle gap but gapless spin and charge excitations and a nonsaturating resistivity in a two-dimensional SU(2) Falicov-Kimball model. An exact duality between this model and an unconstrained slave-spin theory leads to a classification of the phase as a fractionalized or orthogonal metal whose low-energy excitations have different quantum numbers than the original electrons. Whereas the fractionalized metal corresponds to the regime of disordered slave spins, the regime of ordered slave spins is a Fermi liquid. At a critical temperature, an Ising phase transition to a spontaneously generated constrained slave-spin theory of the Hubbard model is observed.

${\mathrm{RbFe}}^{2+}{\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}{\mathrm{F}}_6$ is an example of a charge ordered antiferromagnet where iron sites, with differing valences, are structurally separated into two interpenetrating sublattices. The low temperature magnetically ordered ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ ($S=2$) and ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ ($S=5/2$) moments form a noncollinear orthogonal structure with the ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ site displaying a reduced static ordered moment. Neutron spectroscopy on single crystals finds two distinct spin wave branches with a dominant coupling along the ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ chain axis ($b$ axis). High resolution spectroscopic measurements find an intense energy and momentum broadened magnetic band of scattering bracketing a momentum-energy region where two magnon processes are kinematically allowed. These anharmonic excitations are enhanced in this noncollinear magnet owing to the orthogonal spin arrangement.

The heavy-fermion compound ${\mathrm{CeCu}}_{6-x}{\mathrm{Au}}_x$ has become a model system for unconventional magnetic quantum criticality. For small Au concentrations $0\le x<0.16$, the compound undergoes a structural transition from orthorhombic to monoclinic crystal symmetry at a temperature $T_s$ with $T_s\to 0$ for $x\approx 0.15$. Antiferromagnetic order sets in close to $x\approx 0.1$. To shed light on the interplay between quantum-critical magnetic and structural fluctuations we performed neutron-scattering and thermodynamic measurements on samples with $0\le x\le 0.3$. The resulting phase diagram shows that the antiferromagnetic and monoclinic phase coexist in a tiny Au concentration range between $x\approx 0.1$ and 0.15. The application of hydrostatic and chemical pressure allows us to clearly separate the transitions from each other and to explore a possible effect of the structural transition on the magnetic quantum-critical behavior. Our measurements demonstrate that at low temperatures the unconventional quantum criticality exclusively arises from magnetic fluctuations and is not affected by the monoclinic distortion.

Recent work indicates that twist-bend coupling plays an important role in DNA micromechanics. Here we investigate its effect on bent DNA. We provide an analytical solution of the minimum-energy shape of circular DNA, showing that twist-bend coupling induces sinusoidal twist waves. This solution is in excellent agreement with both coarse-grained simulations of minicircles and nucleosomal DNA data, which is bent and wrapped around histone proteins in a superhelical conformation. Our analysis shows that the observed twist oscillation in nucleosomal DNA, so far attributed to the interaction with the histone proteins, is an intrinsic feature of free bent DNA, and should be observable in other protein-DNA complexes.

We present the first cosmological constraint on dark matter scattering with protons in the early Universe for the entire range of dark matter masses between 1 keV and 1 TeV. This constraint is derived from the Planck measurements of the cosmic microwave background (CMB) temperature and polarization anisotropy, and the CMB lensing anisotropy. It improves upon previous CMB constraints by many orders of magnitude, where limits are available, and closes the gap in coverage for low-mass dark matter candidates. We focus on two canonical interaction scenarios: spin-independent and spin-dependent scattering with no velocity dependence. Our results exclude (with 95% confidence) spin-independent interactions with cross sections greater than $5.3\times {10}^{-27}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for 1 keV, $3.0\times {10}^{-26}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for 1 MeV, $1.7\times {10}^{-25}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for 1 GeV, and $1.6\times {10}^{-23}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ for 1 TeV dark matter mass. Finally, we discuss the implications of this study for dark matter physics and future observations.

We evaluate the no-boundary path integral exactly in a Bianchi type IX minisuperspace with two scale factors. In this model the no-boundary proposal can be implemented by requiring one scale factor to be zero initially together with a judiciously chosen regularity condition on the momentum conjugate to the second scale factor. Taking into account the nonlinear backreaction of the perturbations we recover the predictions of the original semiclassical no-boundary proposal. In particular we find that large perturbations are strongly damped, consistent with vacuum state wave functions.

When metals plastically deform, the density of line defects called dislocations increases and the microstructure is continuously refined, leading to the strain hardening behavior. Using discrete dislocation dynamics simulations, we demonstrate the fundamental role of junction formation in connecting dislocation microstructure evolution and strain hardening in face-centered cubic (fcc) Cu. The dislocation network formed consists of line segments whose lengths closely follow an exponential distribution. This exponential distribution is a consequence of junction formation, which can be modeled as a one-dimensional Poisson process. According to the exponential distribution, two non-dimensional parameters control microstructure evolution, with the hardening rate dictated by the rate of stable junction formation. Among the types of junctions in fcc crystals, we find that glissile junctions make the dominant contribution to strain hardening.

At low energy, the dynamics of excitations of many physical systems are locally constrained. Examples include frustrated antiferromagnets, fractional quantum Hall fluids, and Rydberg atoms in the blockaded regime. Can such locally constrained systems be fully many-body localized? In this Letter, we answer this question affirmatively and elucidate the structure of the accompanying quasilocal integrals of motion. By studying disordered spin chains subject to a projection constraint in the $z$ direction, we show that full many-body localization (MBL) is stable at strong $z$-field disorder and identify a new mechanism of localization through resonance at strong transverse disorder. However, MBL is not guaranteed; the constraints can “frustrate” the tendency of the spins to align with the transverse fields and lead to full thermalization or criticality. We further provide evidence that the transition is discontinuous in local observables with large sample-to-sample variations. Our dynamical phase diagram is accessible in current Rydberg atomic experiments which realize programmable constrained Ising Hamiltonians.

Two-dimensional materials such as layered transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are ideal platforms for studying defect behaviors, an essential step towards defect engineering for novel material functions. Here, we image the 3D lattice locations of selenium-vacancy $V_{\text{Se}}$ defects and manipulate them using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) near the surface of ${\mathrm{PdSe}}_2$, a recently discovered pentagonal layered TMD. The $V_{\text{Se}}$ show a characterisitc charging ring in a spatially resolved conductance map, based on which we can determine its subsurface lattice location precisely. Using the STM tip, not only can we reversibly switch the defect states between charge neutral and charge negative, but also trigger migrations of $V_{\text{Se}}$ defects. This allows a demonstration of direct “writing” and “erasing” of atomic defects and tracing the diffusion pathways. First-principles calculations reveal a small diffusion barrier of $V_{\text{Se}}$ in ${\mathrm{PdSe}}_2$, which is much lower than S vacancy in ${\mathrm{MoS}}_2$ or an O vacancy in ${\mathrm{TiO}}_2$. This finding opens an opportunity of defect engineering in ${\mathrm{PdSe}}_2$ for such as controlled phase transformations and resistive-switching memory device application.

The experimental realization of the Harper-Hofstadter model in ultracold atomic gases has placed fractional states of matter in these systems within reach—a fractional Chern insulator state (FCI) is expected to emerge for sufficiently strong interactions when half-filling the lowest band. The experimental setups naturally allow us to probe the dynamics of this topological state; yet little is known about its out-of-equilibrium properties. We explore, using density matrix renormalization group simulations, the response of the FCI state to spatially localized perturbations. After confirming the static properties of the phase we show that the characteristic, gapless features are clearly visible in the edge dynamics. We find that a local edge perturbation in this model propagates chirally independent of the perturbation strength. This contrasts the behavior of single particle models with counterpropagating edge states, such as the noninteracting Harper-Hofstadter model, where the chirality is manifest only for weak perturbations. Additionally, our simulations show that there is inevitable density leakage from the first row of sites into the bulk, preventing a naive chiral Luttinger theory interpretation of the dynamics.

Novel mechanisms for electromagnetic wave emission in the terahertz frequency regime emerging at the nanometer scale have recently attracted intense attention for the purpose of searching next-generation broadband THz emitters. Here, we report broadband THz emission, utilizing the interface inverse Rashba-Edelstein effect. By engineering the symmetry of the $\mathrm{Ag}/\mathrm{Bi}$ Rashba interface, we demonstrate a controllable THz radiation ($\sim 0.1–5\mathrm{THz}$) waveform emitted from metallic $\mathrm{Fe}/\mathrm{Ag}/\mathrm{Bi}$ heterostructures following photoexcitation. We further reveal that this type of THz radiation can be selectively superimposed on the emission discovered recently due to the inverse spin Hall effect, yielding a unique film thickness dependent emission pattern. Our results thus offer new opportunities for versatile broadband THz radiation using the interface quantum effects.