We analyze the energy and zenith angle distributions of the latest two-year IceCube data set of upward-going atmospheric neutrinos to constrain sterile neutrinos at the eV scale in the $3+1$ scenario. We find that the parameters favored by a combination of LSND and MiniBooNE data are excluded at more than the 99% C.L. We explore the impact of nonstandard matter interactions on this exclusion and find that the exclusion holds for nonstandard interactions (NSIs) that are within the stringent model-dependent bounds set by collider and neutrino scattering experiments. However, for large NSI parameters subject only to model-independent bounds from neutrino oscillation experiments, the LSND and MiniBooNE data are consistent with IceCube.

The ionization and fragmentation of the nucleoside thymidine in the gas phase has been investigated by combining ion collision with state-selected photoionization experiments and quantum chemistry calculations. The comparison between the mass spectra measured in both types of experiments allows us to accurately determine the distribution of the energy deposited in the ionized molecule as a result of the collision. The relation of two experimental techniques and theory shows a strong correlation between the excited states of the ionized molecule with the computed dissociation pathways, as well as with charge localization or delocalization.

The effect of static $n=1$ resonant magnetic perturbation (RMP) on the spatial structure and temporal dynamics of edge-localized modes (ELMs) and edge turbulence in tokamak plasma has been investigated. Two-dimensional images measured by a millimeter-wave camera on the KSTAR tokamak revealed that the coherent filamentary modes (i.e., ELMs) are still present in the edge region when the usual large scale collapse of the edge confinement, i.e., the ELM crash, is completely suppressed by $n=1$ RMP. Cross-correlation analyses on the 2D images show that (1) the RMP enhances turbulent fluctuations in the edge toward the ELM-crash-suppression phase, (2) the induced turbulence has a clear dispersion relation for wide ranges of wave number and frequency, and (3) the turbulence involves a net radially outward energy transport. Nonlinear interactions of the turbulent eddies with the coexisting ELMs are clearly observed by bispectral analysis, which implies that the exchange of energy between them may be the key to the prevention of large scale crashes.

By means of density functional theory based calculations, we study the role of spin-orbit coupling in the new family of $ABC$ hyperferroelectrics [Garrity, Rabe, and Vanderbilt Phys. Rev. Lett. 112, 127601 (2014)]. We unveil an extremely rich physics strongly linked to ferroelectric properties, ranging from the electric control of bulk Rashba effect to the existence of a three-dimensional topological insulator phase, with concomitant topological surface states even in the ultrathin film limit. Moreover, we predict that the topological transition, as induced by alloying, is followed by a Weyl semimetal phase of finite concentration extension, which is robust against disorder, putting forward hyperferroelectrics as promising candidates for spin-orbitronic applications.

Ab initio molecular dynamics, supported by inelastic neutron scattering and nuclear resonant inelastic x-ray scattering, showed an anomalous thermal softening of the $M_5^{-}$ phonon mode in $B2$-ordered FeTi that could not be explained by phonon-phonon interactions or electron-phonon interactions calculated at low temperatures. A computational investigation showed that the Fermi surface undergoes a novel thermally driven electronic topological transition, in which new features of the Fermi surface arise at elevated temperatures. The thermally induced electronic topological transition causes an increased electronic screening for the atom displacements in the $M_5^{-}$ phonon mode and an adiabatic electron-phonon interaction with an unusual temperature dependence.

Using site-controlled semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) free of multiexcitonic continuum states, integrated with photonic crystal membrane cavities, we clarify the effects of pure dephasing and phonon scattering on exciton-cavity coupling in the weak-coupling regime. In particular, the observed QD-cavity copolarization and cavity mode feeding versus QD-cavity detuning are explained quantitatively by a model of a two-level system embedded in a solid-state environment.

Fluctuations in the physical properties of biological machines are inextricably linked to their functions. Distributions of run lengths and velocities of processive molecular motors, like kinesin-1, are accessible through single-molecule techniques, but rigorous theoretical models for these probabilities are lacking. Here, we derive exact analytic results for a kinetic model to predict the resistive force ($F$)-dependent velocity [$P(v)$] and run length [$P(n)$] distribution functions of generic finitely processive molecular motors. Our theory quantitatively explains the zero force kinesin-1 data for both $P(n)$ and $P(v)$ using the detachment rate as the only parameter. In addition, we predict the $F$ dependence of these quantities. At nonzero $F$, $P(v)$ is non-Gaussian and is bimodal with peaks at positive and negative values of $v$, which is due to the discrete step size of kinesin-1. Although the predictions are based on analyses of kinesin-1 data, our results are general and should hold for any processive motor, which walks on a track by taking discrete steps.

We propose a protocol for creating a fully entangled Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger-type state of neutral atoms in spatially separated optical atomic clocks. In our scheme, local operations make use of the strong dipole-dipole interaction between Rydberg excitations, which give rise to fast and reliable quantum operations involving all atoms in the ensemble. The necessary entanglement between distant ensembles is mediated by single-photon quantum channels and collectively enhanced light-matter couplings. These techniques can be used to create the recently proposed quantum clock network based on neutral atom optical clocks. We specifically analyze a possible realization of this scheme using neutral Yb ensembles.

We use 6 yrs of accurate hyperfine frequency comparison data of the dual rubidium and caesium cold atom fountain FO2 at LNE-SYRTE to search for a massive scalar dark matter candidate. Such a scalar field can induce harmonic variations of the fine structure constant, of the mass of fermions, and of the quantum chromodynamic mass scale, which will directly impact the rubidium/caesium hyperfine transition frequency ratio. We find no signal consistent with a scalar dark matter candidate but provide improved constraints on the coupling of the putative scalar field to standard matter. Our limits are complementary to previous results that were only sensitive to the fine structure constant and improve them by more than an order of magnitude when only a coupling to electromagnetism is assumed.

Any new particle charged under $SU(3{)}_C$ and carrying an electric charge will leave an imprint in the diphoton invariant mass spectrum, as it can mediate the $gg\to \gamma \gamma$ process through loops. The combination of properties of loop functions, threshold resummation, and gluon parton distribution functions can result in a peaklike feature in the diphoton invariant mass around twice the mass of a given particle even if the particle is short lived, and thus it does not form a narrow bound state. Using a recent ATLAS analysis, we set upper limits on the combined $SU(3{)}_C$ and electric charge of new particles and indicate future prospects. We also discuss the possibility that the excess of events in the diphoton invariant mass spectrum around 750 GeV originates from loops of a particle with a mass of around 375 GeV.

Neutrino-induced charged-current coherent kaon production ${\nu }_{\mu }A\to {\mu }^{-}{K}^{+}A$ is a rare, inelastic electroweak process that brings a $K^{+}$ on shell and leaves the target nucleus intact in its ground state. This process is significantly lower in rate than the neutrino-induced charged-current coherent pion production because of Cabibbo suppression and a kinematic suppression due to the larger kaon mass. We search for such events in the scintillator tracker of MINERvA by observing the final state $K^{+}$, ${\mu }^{-}$, and no other detector activity, and by using the kinematics of the final state particles to reconstruct the small momentum transfer to the nucleus, which is a model-independent characteristic of coherent scattering. We find the first experimental evidence for the process at $3\sigma$ significance.

If neutrinos get mass via the seesaw mechanism the mixing matrix describing neutrino oscillations can be effectively nonunitary. We show that in this case the neutrino appearance probabilities involve a new $CP$ phase $\varphi$ associated with nonunitarity. This leads to an ambiguity in extracting the “standard” three-neutrino phase ${\delta }_{CP}$, which can survive even after neutrino and antineutrino channels are combined. Its existence should be taken into account in the planning of any oscillation experiment aiming at a robust measurement of ${\delta }_{CP}$.

We present the first complete study of $\mathrm{\Upsilon }$ and prompt $J/\psi$ production from single-parton scattering, including the complete $O({\alpha }_S^6)$ color-singlet contribution, the $O({\alpha }_S^2{\alpha }^2)$ electroweak contribution, and the complete nonrelativistic $S$-wave and $P$-wave color-octet contribution as well as the feeddown contribution. Our study was motivated by the recent evidence reported by the D0 Collaboration of prompt $J/\psi$ and $\mathrm{\Upsilon }$ simultaneous production at the Tevatron. With our complete evaluation, we are able to refine the determination of the double-parton scattering contribution made by the D0 Collaboration. We find that the effective cross section characterizing the importance of double-parton scatterings is ${\sigma }_{\text{eff}}\le 8.2\mathrm{mb}$ at 68% confidence level from the D0 measurement.

We investigate the influence of shear on the gravitational settling of heavy inertial particles in homogeneous shear turbulence (HST). In addition to the well-known enhanced settling velocity, observed for heavy inertial particles in homogeneous isotropic turbulence (HIT), a horizontal drift velocity is also observed in the shearing direction due to the presence of a nonzero mean vorticity (introducing symmetry breaking due to the mean shear). This drift velocity is due to the combination of shear, gravity, and turbulence, and all three of these elements are needed for this effect to occur. We extend the mechanism responsible for the enhanced settling velocity in HIT to the case of HST. Two separate regimes are observed, characterized by positive or negative drift velocity, depending on the particle settling velocity.

We propose a general scheme for diagnosing interaction-driven topological phases in the weak interaction regime using exact diagonalization (ED). The scheme comprises the analysis of eigenvalues of the point-group operators for the many-body eigenstates and the correlation functions for physical observables to extract the symmetries of the order parameters and the topological numbers of the underlying ground states at the thermodynamic limit from a relatively small size system afforded by ED. As a concrete example, we investigate the interaction effects on the half-filled spinless fermions on the checkerboard lattice with a quadratic band crossing point. Numerical results support the existence of a spontaneous quantum anomalous Hall phase purely driven by a nearest-neighbor weak repulsive interaction, separated from a nematic Mott insulator phase at strong repulsive interaction by a first-order phase transition.