We numerically investigate the applicability of dynamic facilitation (DF) theory for glass-forming binary hard disk systems where supercompression is controlled by pressure. By using novel efficient algorithms for hard disks, we are able to generate equilibrium supercompressed states in an additive nonequimolar binary mixture, where microcrystallization and size segregation do not emerge at high average packing fractions. Above an onset pressure where collective heterogeneous relaxation sets in, we find that relaxation times are well described by a “parabolic law” with pressure. We identify excitations, or soft spots, that give rise to structural relaxation and find that they are spatially localized, their average concentration decays exponentially with pressure, and their associated energy scale is logarithmic in the excitation size. These observations are consistent with the predictions of DF generalized to systems controlled by pressure rather than temperature.

We augment ab initio molecular dynamics simulations with a quantitative account of phononic dissipation to study the hyperthermal adsorbate dynamics resulting from a noninstantaneous energy dissipation during exothermic surface chemical reactions. Comparing the hot adatom diffusion ensuing ${\mathrm{O}}_2$ dissociation over Pd(100) and Pd(111) we find experimentally accessible product end distances to form a rather misleading measure for the lifetime of this hyperthermal state. The lifetime is particularly long at Pd(111) where a random-walk-type diffusion leads only to small net displacements. A detailed phonon analysis rationalizes the slow equilibration through long-lived Rayleigh mode excitations that spatially confine the released energy within a nanoscopic “hot spot” around the impingement region.

Tantalum arsenide is a member of the noncentrosymmetric monopnictides, which are putative Weyl semimetals. In these materials, three-dimensional chiral massless quasiparticles, the so-called Weyl fermions, are predicted to induce novel quantum mechanical phenomena, such as the chiral anomaly and topological surface states. However, their chirality is only well defined if the Fermi level is close enough to the Weyl points that separate Fermi surface pockets of opposite chirality exist. In this Letter, we present the bulk Fermi surface topology of high quality single crystals of TaAs, as determined by angle-dependent Shubnikov–de Haas and de Haas–van Alphen measurements combined with ab initio band-structure calculations. Quantum oscillations originating from three different types of Fermi surface pockets were found in magnetization, magnetic torque, and magnetoresistance measurements performed in magnetic fields up to 14 T and temperatures down to 1.8 K. Of these Fermi pockets, two are pairs of topologically nontrivial electron pockets around the Weyl points and one is a trivial hole pocket. Unlike the other members of the noncentrosymmetric monopnictides, TaAs is the first Weyl semimetal candidate with the Fermi energy sufficiently close to both types of Weyl points to generate chiral quasiparticles at the Fermi surface.

We report a new pressure-induced phase in TaAs with different Weyl fermions than the ambient structure with the aid of theoretical calculations, experimental transport and synchrotron structure investigations up to 53 GPa. We show that TaAs transforms from an ambient $I{4}_{1}md$ phase ($t\text{−}\mathrm{TaAs}$) to a high-pressure hexagonal $P\text{−}6m2$ ($h\text{−}\mathrm{TaAs}$) phase at 14 GPa, along with changes of the electronic state from containing 24 Weyl nodes distributed at two energy levels to possessing 12 Weyl nodes at an isoenergy level, which substantially reduces the interference between the surface and bulk states. The new pressure-induced phase can be reserved upon releasing pressure to ambient condition, which allows one to study the exotic behavior of a single set of Weyl fermions, such as the interplay between surface states and other properties.

Disorder or sufficiently strong interactions can render a metallic state unstable, causing it to turn into an insulating one. Despite the fact that the interplay of these two routes to a vanishing conductivity has been a central research topic, a unifying picture has not emerged so far. Here, we establish that the two-dimensional Falicov-Kimball model, one of the simplest lattice models of strong electron correlation, does allow for the study of this interplay. In particular, we show that this model at particle-hole symmetry possesses three distinct thermodynamic insulating phases and exhibits Anderson localization. The previously reported metallic phase is identified as a finite-size feature due to the presence of weak localization. We characterize these phases by their electronic density of states, staggered occupation, conductivity, and the generalized inverse participation ratio. The implications of our findings for other strongly correlated systems are discussed.

We investigate transport and shot noise in lateral normal-metal–3D topological-insulator–superconductor contacts, where the 3D topological insulator (TI) is based on Bi. In the normal state, the devices are in the elastic diffusive transport regime, as demonstrated by a nearly universal value of the shot noise Fano factor $F_N\approx 1/3$ in magnetic field and in a reference normal-metal contact. In the absence of magnetic field, we identify the Andreev reflection (AR) regime, which gives rise to the effective charge doubling in shot noise measurements. Surprisingly, the Fano factor $F_{\mathrm{AR}}\approx 0.22\pm 0.02$ is considerably reduced in the AR regime compared to $F_N$, in contrast to previous AR experiments in normal metals and semiconductors. We suggest that this effect is related to a finite thermal conduction of the proximized, superconducting TI owing to a residual density of states at low energies.

In the cuprates, carrier doping of the Mott insulating parent state is necessary to realize superconductivity as well as a number of other exotic states involving charge or spin density waves. Cation substitution is the primary method for doping carriers into these compounds, and is the only known method for electron doping in these materials. Here, we report electron doping without cation substitution in epitaxially stabilized thin films of ${\mathrm{La}}_2{\mathrm{CuO}}_4$ grown via molecular-beam epitaxy. We use angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy to directly measure their electronic structure and conclusively determine that these compounds are electron doped with a carrier concentration of $0.09\pm 0.02e^{-}/\mathrm{Cu}$. We propose that intrinsic defects, most likely oxygen vacancies, are the sources of doped electrons in these materials. Our results suggest a new approach to electron doping in the cuprates, one which could lead to a more detailed experimental understanding of their properties.

We propose an ultrafast way to generate spin chirality and spin current in a class of multiferroic magnets using a terahertz circularly polarized laser. Using the Floquet formalism for periodically driven systems, we show that it is possible to dynamically control the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction in materials with magnetoelectric coupling. This is supported by numerical calculations, by which additional resonant phenomena are found. Specifically, when a static magnetic field is applied in addition to the circularly polarized laser, a large resonant enhancement of spin chirality is observed resembling the electron spin resonance. Spin current is generated when the laser is spatially modulated by chiral plasmonic structures and could be detected using optospintronic devices.

The chain and association dynamics of supramolecular polymer ensembles decisively determines their properties. Using neutron spin echo (NSE) spectroscopy we present molecular insight into the space and time evolution of this dynamics. Studying a well characterized ensemble of linearly associating telechelic poly(ethylene glycol) melts carrying triple H-bonding end groups, we show that H-bond breaking significantly impacts the mode spectrum of the associates. The breaking affects the mode contributions and not the relaxation times as was assumed previously. NSE spectra directly reveal the so far intangible H-bond lifetimes in the supramolecular melt and demonstrate that for both the microscopic and the macroscopic dynamics of the supramolecular ensemble the instantaneous average of the $M_w$ distribution governs the system response at least as long as the Rouse picture applies.

We have studied the motion of polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) nanoparticles modified with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) arms immersed in PEG matrices of different molecular weight. Employing neutron spin echo spectroscopy in combination with pulsed field gradient (PFG) NMR we found the following. (i) For entangled matrices the center of mass mean square displacement (MSD) of the PEG-POSS particles is subdiffusive following a $t^{0.56}$ power law. (ii) The diffusion coefficient as well as the crossover to Fickian diffusion is independent of the matrix molecular weight and takes place as soon as the center of mass has moved a distance corresponding to the particle radius—this holds also for unentangled hosts. (iii) For the entangled matrices Rubinstein’s scaling theory is validated; however, the numbers indicate that beyond Rouse friction the entanglement constraints appear to strongly increase the effective friction even on the nanoparticle length scale imposing a caveat on the interpretation of microrheological experiments. (iv) The oligomer decorated PEG-POSS particles exhibit the dynamics of a Gaussian star with an internal viscosity that rises with an increase of the host molecular weight.

The indeterminacy inherent in quantum measurements is an outstanding character of quantum theory, which manifests itself typically in the uncertainty principle. In the last decade, several universally valid forms of error-disturbance uncertainty relations were derived for completely general quantum measurements for arbitrary states. Subsequently, Branciard established a form that is optimal for spin measurements for some pure states. However, the bound in his inequality is not stringent for mixed states. One of the present authors recently derived a new bound tight in the corresponding mixed state case. Here, a neutron-optical experiment is carried out to investigate this new relation: it is tested whether error and disturbance of quantum measurements disappear or persist in mixing up the measured ensemble. The attainability of the new bound is experimentally observed, falsifying the tightness of Branciard’s bound for mixed spin states.

I derive a new modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) relation for pure-disc galaxies: The “dynamical” central surface density, ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_D^0$, deduced from the measured velocities, is a universal function of only the true, “baryonic’’ central surface density, ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0$: ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_D^0={\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M\mathcal{S}({\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0/{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M)$, where ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M\equiv a_0/2\pi G$ is the MOND surface density constant. This surprising result is shown to hold in both existing, nonrelativistic MOND theories. $\mathcal{S}(y)$ is derived: $\mathcal{S}(y)={\int }_0^y\nu (y^{\prime })d{y}^{\prime }$, with $\nu (y)$ being the interpolating function of the theory. The relation aymptotes to ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_D^0={\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0$ for ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0\gg {\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M$, and to ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_D^0=(4{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M{\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0{)}^{1/2}$ for ${\mathrm{\Sigma }}_B^0\ll {\mathrm{\Sigma }}_M$. This study was prompted by the recent finding of a correlation between related attributes of disc galaxies by Lelli et al.. The MOND central-surface-densities relation agrees very well with these results.

The ${}^{17}\mathrm{O}(p,\alpha ){}^{14}\mathrm{N}$ reaction plays a key role in various astrophysical scenarios, from asymptotic giant branch stars to classical novae. It affects the synthesis of rare isotopes such as ${}^{17}\mathrm{O}$ and ${}^{18}\mathrm{F}$, which can provide constraints on astrophysical models. A new direct determination of the $E_R=64.5\mathrm{keV}$ resonance strength performed at the Laboratory for Underground Nuclear Astrophysics (LUNA) accelerator has led to the most accurate value to date $\omega \gamma =10.0\pm 1.4_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 0.7_{\mathrm{syst}}\mathrm{neV}$, thanks to a significant background reduction underground and generally improved experimental conditions. The (bare) proton partial width of the corresponding state at $E_x=5672\mathrm{keV}$ in ${}^{18}\mathrm{F}$ is ${\mathrm{\Gamma }}_p=35\pm 5_{\mathrm{stat}}\pm 3_{\mathrm{syst}}\mathrm{neV}$. This width is about a factor of 2 higher than previously estimated, thus leading to a factor of 2 increase in the ${}^{17}\mathrm{O}(p,\alpha ){}^{14}\mathrm{N}$ reaction rate at astrophysical temperatures relevant to shell hydrogen burning in red giant and asymptotic giant branch stars. The new rate implies lower ${}^{17}\mathrm{O}/{}^{16}\mathrm{O}$ ratios, with important implications on the interpretation of astrophysical observables from these stars.

The laser-assisted photoelectric effect from liquid surfaces is reported for the first time. Photoelectrons generated by 35.6 eV radiation from a liquid microjet of water under vacuum are dressed with a $\hslash \omega =1.55\mathrm{eV}$ laser field. The subsequent redistribution of the photoelectron energies consists in the appearance of sidebands shifted by energies equivalent to $\hslash \omega$, $2\hslash \omega$, and $3\hslash \omega$. The response has been modeled to the third order and combined with energy-resolved measurements. This result opens the possibility to investigate the dynamics at surfaces of liquid solutions and provide information about the electron emission process from a liquid.

We present accurate ab initio and quantum scattering calculations on a prototypical hybrid ion-atom system ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$-Rb, recently suggested as a promising candidate for the experimental study of open quantum systems, quantum information processing, and quantum simulation. We identify the second-order spin-orbit (SO) interaction as the dominant source of hyperfine relaxation in cold ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$-Rb collisions. Our results are in good agreement with recent experimental observations [L. Ratschbacher et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 110, 160402 (2013)] of hyperfine relaxation rates of trapped ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$ immersed in an ultracold Rb gas. The calculated rates are 4 times smaller than is predicted by the Langevin capture theory and display a weak $T^{-0.3}$ temperature dependence, indicating significant deviations from statistical behavior. Our analysis underscores the deleterious nature of the SO interaction and implies that light ion-atom combinations such as ${\mathrm{Yb}}^{+}$-Li should be used to minimize hyperfine relaxation and decoherence of trapped ions in ultracold atomic gases.

Few-fs electron bunches from laser wakefield acceleration (LWFA) can efficiently drive plasma wakefields (PWFs), as shown by their propagation through underdense plasma in two experiments. A strong and density-insensitive deceleration of the bunches has been observed in 2 mm of $10^{18}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-3}$ density plasma with $5.1\mathrm{GV}/\mathrm{m}$ average gradient, which is attributed to a self-driven PWF. This observation implies that the physics of PWFs, usually relying on large-scale rf accelerators as drivers, can be studied by tabletop LWFA electron sources.

Amplification of a picosecond pulse beam by a lower intensity nanosecond pulse beam was experimentally observed in a flowing plasma. Modifications of intensity distributions in beam focal spots due to nonhomogeneous energy transfer and its transient regime were investigated. The mean transferred power reached 57% of the incident power of the nanosecond pulse beam. An imaging diagnostic allowed the intensity profile of the picosecond pulse beam to be determined, bringing to evidence the spatial nonuniformity of energy transfer in the amplified beam. This diagnostic also enabled us to observe the temporal evolution of the speckle intensity distribution because of the transfer. These results are reproduced by numerical simulations of two complementary codes. The method and the observed effects are important for the understanding of experiments with multiple crossing laser beams in plasmas.