We report a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscopy study of the charge density wave (CDW) order in $1T\text{−}{\mathrm{TiSe}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{0.08}{\mathrm{TiSe}}_2$. In pristine $1T\text{−}{\mathrm{TiSe}}_2$ we observe a long-range coherent commensurate CDW (CCDW) order. In contrast, ${\mathrm{Cu}}_{0.08}{\mathrm{TiSe}}_2$ displays an incommensurate CDW (ICDW) phase with localized CCDW domains separated by domain walls. Density of states measurements indicate that the domain walls host an extra population of fermions near the Fermi level which may play a role in the emergence of superconductivity in this system. Fourier transform scanning tunneling spectroscopy studies suggest that the dominant mechanism for CDW formation in the ICDW phase may be electron-phonon coupling.

The Weyl semimetal phase is a recently discovered topological quantum state of matter characterized by the presence of topologically protected degeneracies near the Fermi level. These degeneracies are the source of exotic phenomena, including the realization of chiral Weyl fermions as quasiparticles in the bulk and the formation of Fermi arc states on the surfaces. Here, we demonstrate that these two key signatures show distinct evolutions with the bulk band topology by performing angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, supported by first-principles calculations, on transition-metal monophosphides. While Weyl fermion quasiparticles exist only when the chemical potential is located between two saddle points of the Weyl cone features, the Fermi arc states extend in a larger energy scale and are robust across the bulk Lifshitz transitions associated with the recombination of two nontrivial Fermi surfaces enclosing one Weyl point into a single trivial Fermi surface enclosing two Weyl points of opposite chirality. Therefore, in some systems (e.g., NbP), topological Fermi arc states are preserved even if Weyl fermion quasiparticles are absent in the bulk. Our findings not only provide insight into the relationship between the exotic physical phenomena and the intrinsic bulk band topology in Weyl semimetals, but also resolve the apparent puzzle of the different magnetotransport properties observed in TaAs, TaP, and NbP, where the Fermi arc states are similar.

We calculate the two-terminal current noise generated by a magnetic moment coupled to a helical edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator. When the system is symmetric with respect to in-plane spin rotation, the noise is dominated by the Nyquist component even in the presence of a voltage bias $V$. The corresponding noise spectrum $S(V,\omega )$ is determined by a modified fluctuation-dissipation theorem with the differential conductance $G(V,\omega )$ in place of the linear one. The differential noise $\partial S/\partial V$, commonly measured in experiments, is strongly dependent on frequency on a small scale ${\tau }_K^{-1}\ll T$ set by the Korringa relaxation rate of the local moment. This is in stark contrast to the case of conventional mesoscopic conductors where $\partial S/\partial V$ is frequency independent and defined by the shot noise. In a helical edge, a violation of the spin-rotation symmetry leads to the shot noise, which becomes important only at a high bias. Uncharacteristically for a fermion system, this noise in the backscattered current is super-Poissonian.

We study the effect of applied strain as a physical control parameter for the phase transitions of $\mathrm{Ca}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Co}}_x{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$ using resistivity, magnetization, x-ray diffraction, and ${}^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$ Mössbauer spectroscopy. Biaxial strain, namely, compression of the basal plane of the tetragonal unit cell, is created through firm bonding of samples to a rigid substrate via differential thermal expansion. This strain is shown to induce a magnetostructural phase transition in originally paramagnetic samples, and superconductivity in previously nonsuperconducting ones. The magnetostructural transition is gradual as a consequence of using strain instead of pressure or stress as a tuning parameter.

Croconic acid crystals show proton displacive-type ferroelectricity with a large spontaneous polarization reaching $20\mu \mathrm{C}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$, which originates from the strong coupling of proton and $\pi$-electron degrees of freedom. Such a coupling makes us expect a large polarization change by photoirradiations. Optical-pump second-harmonic-generation-probe experiments reveal that a photoexcited croconic-acid crystal loses the ferroelectricity substantially with a maximum quantum efficiency of more than 30 molecules per one absorbed photon. Based on density functional calculations, we theoretically discuss possible pathways toward the formation of a one-dimensional domain with polarization inversion and its recovery process to the ground state by referring to the dynamics of experimentally obtained polarization changes.

We model theoretically a two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) covered by a superconductor and demonstrate that topological superconducting channels are formed when stripes of the superconducting layer are removed. As a consequence, Majorana bound states (MBSs) are created at the ends of the stripes. We calculate the topological invariant and energy gap of a single stripe, using realistic values for an InAs 2DEG proximitized by an epitaxial Al layer. We show that the topological gap is enhanced when the structure is made asymmetric. This can be achieved either by imposing a phase difference (by driving a supercurrent or using a magnetic-flux loop) over the strip or by replacing one superconductor by a metallic gate. Both strategies also enable control over the MBS splitting, thereby facilitating braiding and readout schemes based on controlled fusion of MBSs. Finally, we outline how a network of Majorana stripes can be designed.

The dark photon and the axion (or axionlike particle) are popular light particles of the hidden sector. Each of them has been actively searched for through the couplings called the vector portal and the axion portal. We introduce a new portal connecting the dark photon and the axion (axion–photon–dark photon, axion–dark photon–dark photon), which emerges in the presence of the two particles. This dark axion portal is genuinely new couplings, not just from a product of the vector portal and the axion portal, because of the internal structure of these couplings. We present a simple model that realizes the dark axion portal and discuss why it warrants a rich phenomenology.

We report on the experimental generation of relativistic electron bunches with a tunable longitudinal bunch shape. A longitudinal bunch-shaping (LBS) beam line, consisting of a transverse mask followed by a transverse-to-longitudinal emittance exchange (EEX) beam line, is used to tailor the longitudinal bunch shape (or current profile) of the electron bunch. The mask shapes the bunch’s horizontal profile, and the EEX beam line converts it to a corresponding longitudinal profile. The Argonne wakefield accelerator rf photoinjector delivers electron bunches into a LBS beam line to generate a variety of longitudinal bunch shapes. The quality of the longitudinal bunch shape is limited by various perturbations in the exchange process. We develop a simple method, based on the incident slope of the bunch, to significantly suppress the perturbations.

A comprehensive study of fully frequency-resolved nonlinear kinetic energy transfer has been performed for the first time in a diverted tokamak, providing new insight into the parametric dependences of edge turbulence transitions. Measurements using gas puff imaging in the turbulent $L$-mode state illuminate the source of the long known but as yet unexplained “favorable-unfavorable” geometric asymmetry of the power threshold for transition to the turbulence-suppressed $H$ mode. Results from the recently discovered $I$ mode point to a competition between zonal flow (ZF) and geodesic-acoustic modes (GAM) for turbulent energy, while showing new evidence that the $I$-to-$H$ transition is still dominated by ZFs. The availability of nonlinear drive for the GAM against net heat flux through the edge corresponds very well to empirical scalings found experimentally for accessing the $I$ mode.

Deformation twinning rarely occurs in mineral materials which typically show brittle fracture. Surprisingly, it has recently been observed in the biomineral aragonite phase in nacre under high rate impact loading. In this Letter, the twinning tendency and the competition between fracture and deformation twinning were revealed by first principles calculations. The ratio of the unstable stacking fault energy and the stacking fault energy in orthorhombic aragonite is hitherto the highest in a broad range of metallic and oxide materials. The underlining physics for this high ratio is the multineighbor shared ionic bonds and the unique relaxation process during sliding in the aragonite structure. Overall, the unique deformation twining along with other highly coordinated deformation mechanisms synergistically work in the hierarchical structure of nacre, leading to the remarkable strengthening and toughening of nacre upon dynamic loading, and thus protecting the mother-of-pearl from predatory attacks.

Charge transport has been examined in junctions comprising the normal-metal tip of a low-temperature scanning tunneling microscope, the surface of a conventional superconductor, and adsorbed ${\mathrm{C}}_{60}$ molecules. The Bardeen-Cooper-Schrieffer energy gap gradually evolves into a zero-bias peak with decreasing electrode separation. The peak is assigned to the spectroscopic signature of Andreev reflection. The conductance due to Andreev reflection is determined by the atomic termination of the tip apex and the molecular adsorption orientation. Transport calculations unveil the finite temperature and the strong molecule-electrode hybridization as the origin to the surprisingly good agreement between spectroscopic data and the Blonder-Tinkham-Klapwijk model that was conceived for macroscopic point contacts.

Magnetoelectric properties are studied by a combined experimental and theoretical study of a quasi-two-dimensional material composed of square cupolas, ${\mathrm{Ba}(\mathrm{TiO}){\mathrm{Cu}}_4({\mathrm{PO}}_4)}_4$. The magnetization is measured up to the field above the saturation, and several anomalies are observed depending on the field directions. We propose a $S=1/2$ spin model with Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which reproduces the full magnetization curves well. Elaborating the phase diagram of the model, we show that the anomalies are explained by magnetoelectric phase transitions. Our theory also accounts for the scaling of the dielectric anomaly observed in the experiments. The results elucidate the crucial role of the in-plane component of Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which is induced by the noncoplanar buckling of a square cupola. We also predict a “hidden” phase and another magnetoelectric response, both of which appear in a nonzero magnetic field.

Achieving effectively adiabatic dynamics is a ubiquitous goal in almost all areas of quantum physics. Here, we study the speed with which a quantum system can be driven when employing transitionless quantum driving. As a main result, we establish a rigorous link between this speed, the quantum speed limit, and the (energetic) cost of implementing such a shortcut to adiabaticity. Interestingly, this link elucidates a trade-off between speed and cost, namely, that instantaneous manipulation is impossible as it requires an infinite cost. These findings are illustrated for two experimentally relevant systems—the parametric oscillator and the Landau-Zener model—which reveal that the spectral gap governs the quantum speed limit as well as the cost for realizing the shortcut.

Counterdiabatic driving (CD) exploits auxiliary control fields to tailor the nonequilibrium dynamics of a quantum system, making possible the suppression of dissipated work in finite-time thermodynamics and the engineering of optimal thermal machines with no friction. We show that while the mean work done by the auxiliary controls vanishes, CD leads to a broadening of the work distribution. We derive a fundamental inequality that relates nonequilibrium work fluctuations to the operation time and quantifies the thermodynamic cost of CD in both critical and noncritical systems.

We construct global solutions to type IIB supergravity with 16 residual supersymmetries whose space-time is ${\mathrm{AdS}}_6\times {\mathrm{S}}^2$ warped over a Riemann surface. Families of solutions are labeled by an arbitrary number $L\ge 3$ of asymptotic regions, in each of which the supergravity fields match those of a $(p,q)$ five-brane, and may therefore be viewed as near-horizon limits of fully localized intersections of five-branes in type IIB string theory. These solutions provide compelling candidates for holographic duals to a large class of five-dimensional superconformal quantum field theories which arise as nontrivial UV fixed points of perturbatively nonrenormalizable Yang-Mills theories, thereby making them more directly accessible to quantitative analysis.

In experiments with superconducting quantum circuits, characterizing the photon statistics of propagating microwave fields is a fundamental task. We quantify the $n^2+n$ photon number variance of thermal microwave photons emitted from a blackbody radiator for mean photon numbers, $0.05\lesssim n\lesssim 1.5$. We probe the fields using either correlation measurements or a transmon qubit coupled to a microwave resonator. Our experiments provide a precise quantitative characterization of weak microwave states and information on the noise emitted by a Josephson parametric amplifier.

In the complex 3D magnetic fields of stellarators, ion-temperature-gradient turbulence is shown to have two distinct saturation regimes, as revealed by petascale numerical simulations and explained by a simple turbulence theory. The first regime is marked by strong zonal flows and matches previous observations in tokamaks. The newly observed second regime, in contrast, exhibits small-scale quasi-two-dimensional turbulence, negligible zonal flows, and, surprisingly, a weaker heat flux scaling. Our findings suggest that key details of the magnetic geometry control turbulence in stellarators.