The first lattice QCD calculation of the form factors governing ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{\ell }^{+}{\nu }_{\ell }$ decays is reported. The calculation was performed with two different lattice spacings and includes one ensemble with a pion mass of 139(2) MeV. The resulting predictions for the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{e}^{+}{\nu }_e$ and ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{\mu }^{+}{\nu }_{\mu }$ decay rates divided by $|V_{cs}{|}^2$ are 0.2007(71)(74) and $0.1945(69)(72){\mathrm{ps}}^{-1}$, respectively, where the two uncertainties are statistical and systematic. Taking the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix element $|V_{cs}|$ from a global fit and the ${\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c$ lifetime from experiments, this translates to branching fractions of $\mathcal{B}({\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{e}^{+}{\nu }_e)=0.0380(19{)}_{\mathrm{LQCD}}(11{)}_{{\tau }_{{\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c}}$ and $\mathcal{B}({\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c\to \mathrm{\Lambda }{\mu }^{+}{\nu }_{\mu })=0.0369(19{)}_{\mathrm{LQCD}}(11{)}_{{\tau }_{{\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c}}$. These results are consistent with, and two times more precise than, the measurements performed recently by the BESIII Collaboration. Using instead the measured branching fractions together with the lattice calculation to determine the CKM matrix element gives $|V_{cs}|=0.949(24{)}_{\mathrm{LQCD}}(14{)}_{{\tau }_{{\mathrm{\Lambda }}_c}}(49{)}_{\mathcal{B}}$.

The interaction of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum of light is observed, as evidenced by length-dependent rotations of both spatial patterns and optical polarization in a cylindrically symmetric isotropic optical fiber. Such rotations occur in a straight few-mode fiber when superpositions of two modes with parallel and antiparallel orientation of spin and intrinsic orbital angular momentum ($\mathrm{IOAM}=2\hslash$) are excited, resulting from a degeneracy splitting of the propagation constants of the modes.

We report on the experimental observation of extreme laser spectral broadening and a change in optical transmission in gallium phosphite induced by $\text{25\hspace{0.17em}\hspace{0.17em}}\mathrm{MV}/\mathrm{cm}$ terahertz (THz) single-cycle internal field. Such intense THz radiation leads to twofold transient modifications of the optical properties in the electro-optical crystal. First, the electric field provokes extensive cross-phase modulation via the ${\chi }^{(2)}$ and ${\chi }^{(3)}$ nonlinearities on a copropagating 50 fs near infrared laser pulse which turns into 500% spectral broadening. Second, we observe an instantaneous change of the optical transmission occurring at the THz field which is alleged to interband Zener tunneling and charge carrier density modification by impact ionization turning the semiconductor in a metal-like transient state. The presented scheme displays a pathway to coherently control the optical properties of semiconductors on an ultrafast time scale by a strong THz field.

We investigate the mechanical response of thin sheets perforated with a square array of mutually orthogonal cuts, which leaves a network of squares connected by small ligaments. Our combined analytical, experimental and numerical results indicate that under uniaxial tension the ligaments buckle out of plane, inducing the formation of 3D patterns whose morphology is controlled by the load direction. We also find that by largely stretching the buckled perforated sheets, plastic strains develop in the ligaments. This gives rise to the formation of kirigami sheets comprising periodic distribution of cuts and permanent folds. As such, the proposed buckling-induced pop-up strategy points to a simple route for manufacturing complex morphable structures out of flat perforated sheets.

We demonstrate both numerically and experimentally that geometric frustration in two-dimensional periodic acoustic networks consisting of arrays of narrow air channels can be harnessed to form band gaps (ranges of frequency in which the waves cannot propagate in any direction through the system). While resonant standing wave modes and interferences are ubiquitous in all the analyzed network geometries, we show that they give rise to band gaps only in the geometrically frustrated ones (i.e., those comprising of triangles and pentagons). Our results not only reveal a new mechanism based on geometric frustration to suppress the propagation of pressure waves in specific frequency ranges but also open avenues for the design of a new generation of smart systems that control and manipulate sound and vibrations.

We present a detailed study of magnetic reconnection in a quasi-two-dimensional pulsed-power driven laboratory experiment. Oppositely directed magnetic fields ($B=3\mathrm{T}$), advected by supersonic, sub-Alfvénic carbon plasma flows ($V_{\mathrm{in}}=50\mathrm{km}/\mathrm{s}$), are brought together and mutually annihilate inside a thin current layer ($\delta =0.6\mathrm{mm}$). Temporally and spatially resolved optical diagnostics, including interferometry, Faraday rotation imaging, and Thomson scattering, allow us to determine the structure and dynamics of this layer, the nature of the inflows and outflows, and the detailed energy partition during the reconnection process. We measure high electron and ion temperatures ($T_e=100\mathrm{eV}$, $T_i=600\mathrm{eV}$), far in excess of what can be attributed to classical (Spitzer) resistive and viscous dissipation. We observe the repeated formation and ejection of plasmoids, consistent with the predictions from semicollisional plasmoid theory.

Simulations suggest collisionless steady-state magnetic reconnection of Harris-type current sheets proceeds with a rate of order 0.1, independent of dissipation mechanism. We argue this long-standing puzzle is a result of constraints at the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) scale. We predict the reconnection rate as a function of the opening angle made by the upstream magnetic fields, finding a maximum reconnection rate close to 0.2. The predictions compare favorably to particle-in-cell simulations of relativistic electron-positron and nonrelativistic electron-proton reconnection. The fact that simulated reconnection rates are close to the predicted maximum suggests reconnection proceeds near the most efficient state allowed at the MHD scale. The rate near the maximum is relatively insensitive to the opening angle, potentially explaining why reconnection has a similar fast rate in differing models.

We find a first-order transition driven by the strength of nonequilibrium conditions of one-dimensional driven open condensates. Associated with this transition is a new stable nonequilibrium phase, space-time vortex turbulence, whose vortex density and quasiparticle distribution show strongly nonthermal behavior. Below the transition, we identify a new time scale associated with noise-activated unbound space-time vortices, beyond which, the temporal coherence function changes from a Kardar-Parisi-Zhang-type subexponential to a disordered exponential decay. Experimental realization of the nonequilibrium vortex turbulent phase is facilitated in driven open condensates with a large diffusion rate.

We investigate the phase diagram of the spin-orbit-coupled three orbital Hubbard model at arbitrary filling by means of dynamical mean-field theory combined with the continuous-time quantum Monte Carlo method. We find that the spin-freezing crossover occurring in the metallic phase of the nonrelativistic multiorbital Hubbard model can be generalized to a $\mathbf{J}$-freezing crossover, with $\mathbf{J}=\mathbf{L}+\mathbf{S}$, in the spin-orbit-coupled case. In the $\mathbf{J}$-frozen regime the correlated electrons exhibit a nontrivial flavor selectivity and energy dependence. Furthermore, in the regions near $n=2$ and $n=4$ the metallic states are qualitatively different from each other, which reflects the atomic Hund’s third rule. Finally, we explore the appearance of magnetic order from exciton condensation at $n=4$ and discuss the relevance of our results for real materials.

It was proposed recently that the out-of-time-ordered four-point correlator (OTOC) may serve as a useful characteristic of quantum-chaotic behavior, because, in the semiclassical limit $\hslash \to 0$, its rate of exponential growth resembles the classical Lyapunov exponent. Here, we calculate the four-point correlator $C(t)$ for the classical and quantum kicked rotor—a textbook driven chaotic system—and compare its growth rate at initial times with the standard definition of the classical Lyapunov exponent. Using both quantum and classical arguments, we show that the OTOC’s growth rate and the Lyapunov exponent are, in general, distinct quantities, corresponding to the logarithm of the phase-space averaged divergence rate of classical trajectories and to the phase-space average of the logarithm, respectively. The difference appears to be more pronounced in the regime of low kicking strength $K$, where no classical chaos exists globally. In this case, the Lyapunov exponent quickly decreases as $K\to 0$, while the OTOC’s growth rate may decrease much slower, showing a higher sensitivity to small chaotic islands in the phase space. We also show that the quantum correlator as a function of time exhibits a clear singularity at the Ehrenfest time $t_E$: transitioning from a time-independent value of $t^{-1}\ln C(t)$ at $t<t_E$ to its monotonic decrease with time at $t>t_E$. We note that the underlying physics here is the same as in the theory of weak (dynamical) localization [Aleiner and Larkin, Phys. Rev. B 54, 14423 (1996); Tian, Kamenev, and Larkin, Phys. Rev. Lett. 93, 124101 (2004)] and is due to a delay in the onset of quantum interference effects, which occur sharply at a time of the order of the Ehrenfest time.

Bilayer transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) belong to a class of materials with two unique features, the coupled spin-valley-layer degrees of freedom and the crystal structure that is globally centrosymmetric but locally noncentrosymmetric. In this Letter, we will show that the combination of these two features can lead to a rich phase diagram for unconventional superconductivity, including intralayer and interlayer singlet pairings and interlayer triplet pairings, in bilayer superconducting TMDs. In particular, we predict that the inhomogeneous Fulde-Ferrell-Larkin-Ovchinnikov state can exist in bilayer TMDs under an in-plane magnetic field. We also discuss the experimental relevance of our results and possible experimental signatures.

We investigate the nonequilibrium dynamics of competing coexisting superconducting (SC) and charge-density wave (CDW) orders in an attractive Hubbard model. A time-periodic laser field $\overrightarrow{A}(t)$ lifts the SC-CDW degeneracy, since the CDW couples linearly to the field ($\overrightarrow{A}$), whereas SC couples in second order (${\overrightarrow{A}}^2$) due to gauge invariance. This leads to a striking resonance: When the photon energy is red detuned compared to the equilibrium single-particle energy gap, CDW is enhanced and SC is suppressed, while this behavior is reversed for blue detuning. Both orders oscillate with an emergent slow frequency, which is controlled by the small amplitude of a third induced order, namely $\eta$ pairing, given by the commutator of the two primary orders. The induced $\eta$ pairing is shown to control the enhancement and suppression of the dominant orders. Finally, we demonstrate that light-induced superconductivity is possible starting from a predominantly CDW initial state.

A symmetry-protected topological phase has nontrivial surface states in the presence of certain symmetries, which can either be gapless or be degenerate. In this work, we study the physical consequence of such gapless surface states at the bulk quantum phase transition (QPT) that spontaneously breaks these symmetries. The two-dimensional Affleck-Kennedy-Lieb-Tasaki phase on a square lattice and its QPTs to Néel ordered phases are realized with the spin-$1/2$ Heisenberg model on a decorated square lattice. With large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations, we show that even though the bulk QPTs are governed by the conventional Landau phase transition theory, the gapless surface states induce unconventional universality classes of the surface critical behavior.

The internal and lattice structures of magnetic Skyrmions in $B20$-type FeGe are investigated using off-axis electron holography. The temperature, magnetic field, and angular dependence of the magnetic moments of individual Skyrmions are analyzed. The internal Skyrmion shape is found to vary with applied magnetic field. In contrast, the inter-Skyrmion distance remains almost unchanged in the lattice phase over the studied range of applied field. The amplitude of the local magnetic moment is found to vary with temperature, while the Skyrmion shape does not change significantly. Deviations from a circular to a hexagonal Skyrmion structure are observed in the lattice phase, in agreement with the results of micromagnetic simulations.

Ultrafast pump-probe measurements of plasmonic nanostructures probe the nonequilibrium behavior of excited carriers, which involves several competing effects obscured in typical empirical analyses. Here we present pump-probe measurements of plasmonic nanoparticles along with a complete theoretical description based on first-principles calculations of carrier dynamics and optical response, free of any fitting parameters. We account for detailed electronic-structure effects in the density of states, excited carrier distributions, electron-phonon coupling, and dielectric functions that allow us to avoid effective electron temperature approximations. Using this calculation method, we obtain excellent quantitative agreement with spectral and temporal features in transient-absorption measurements. In both our experiments and calculations, we identify the two major contributions of the initial response with distinct signatures: short-lived highly nonthermal excited carriers and longer-lived thermalizing carriers.

Recent studies of cooled oil emulsion droplets uncovered transformations into a host of flattened shapes with straight edges and sharp corners, driven by a partial phase transition of the bulk liquid phase. Here, we explore theoretically the simplest geometric competition between this phase transition and surface tension in planar polygons and recover the observed sequence of shapes and their statistics in qualitative agreement with experiments. Extending the model to capture some of the three-dimensional structure of the droplets, we analyze the evolution of protrusions sprouting from the vertices of the platelets and the topological transition of a puncturing planar polygon.

We derive the constitutive equations of an active polar gel from a model for the dynamics of elastic molecules that link polar elements. Molecular binding kinetics induces the fluidization of the material, giving rise to Maxwell viscoelasticity and, provided that detailed balance is broken, to the generation of active stresses. We give explicit expressions for the transport coefficients of active gels in terms of molecular properties, including nonlinear contributions on the departure from equilibrium. In particular, when activity favors linker unbinding, we predict a decrease of viscosity with activity—active thinning—of kinetic origin, which could explain some experimental results on the cell cortex. By bridging the molecular and hydrodynamic scales, our results could help understand the interplay between molecular perturbations and the mechanics of cells and tissues.

The folding and binding of biomolecules into functional conformations are thought to be commonly mediated by multiple pathways rather than a unique route. Yet even in experiments where one can “see” individual conformational transitions, their stochastic nature generally precludes one from determining whether the transitions occurred through one or multiple pathways. We establish model-free, observable signatures in the response of macromolecules to force that unambiguously identify multiple pathways—even when the pathways themselves cannot be resolved. The unified analytical description reveals that, through multiple pathways, the response of molecules to external forces can be shaped in diverse ways, resulting in a rich design space for a tailored biological function already at the single-molecule level.