We show that the Néel states of two-dimensional antiferromagnets have low energy vector boson excitations in the vicinity of deconfined quantum critical points. We compute the universal damping of these excitations arising from spin-wave emission. Detection of such a vector boson will demonstrate the existence of emergent topological gauge excitations in a quantum spin system.

We calculate the ground state phase diagram of the homogeneous electron gas in three dimensions within the Hartree-Fock approximation and show that broken symmetry states are energetically favored at any density against the homogeneous Fermi gas state with isotropic Fermi surface. At high density, we find metallic spin-unpolarized solutions where electronic charge and spin density form an incommensurate crystal having more crystal sites than electrons. For $r_s\to 0$, our solutions approach pure spin-density waves, whereas the commensurate Wigner crystal is favored at lower densities, $r_s\gtrsim 3.4$. Decreasing the density, the system undergoes several structural phase transitions with different lattice symmetries. The polarization transition occurs around $r_s\approx 8.5$.

We report experimental data and theoretical analysis of Coulomb drag between two closely positioned graphene monolayers in a weak magnetic field. Close enough to the neutrality point, the coexistence of electrons and holes in each layer leads to a dramatic increase of the drag resistivity. Away from charge neutrality, we observe nonzero Hall drag. The observed phenomena are explained by decoupling of electric and quasiparticle currents which are orthogonal at charge neutrality. The sign of magnetodrag depends on the energy relaxation rate and geometry of the sample.

Spin chains are among the simplest physical systems in which electron-electron interactions induce novel states of matter. Here we propose to combine atomic scale engineering and spectroscopic capabilities of state of the art scanning tunnel microscopy to probe the fractionalized edge states of individual atomic scale $S=1$ spin chains. These edge states arise from the topological order of the ground state in the Haldane phase. We also show that the Haldane gap and the spin-spin correlation length can be measured with the same technique.

In this Letter we highlight direct experimental evidence of ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$-${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ charge ordering at room temperature in hematite-ilmenite ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{1.35}{\mathrm{Ti}}_{0.65}{\mathrm{O}}_{3-\delta }$ epitaxial thin films grown by pulsed laser deposition, using aberration-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy coupled to high-resolution energy electron-loss spectroscopy. These advanced spectromicroscopy techniques demonstrate a strong modulation of the ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ valence state along the $c$ axis. Density functional theory calculations provide crucial information on the key role of oxygen vacancies in the observed charge distributions. Their presence at significant levels leads to the localization of extra electrons onto reduced ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ sites, while Ti remains solely $+4$. The magnetic and transport properties of these films are reviewed in the light of the present results regarding their ferrimagnetic character correlated with the ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ modulation and their semiconducting behavior interpreted by an Efros-Shklovskii variable-range hopping conduction regime via ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ and ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$ centers. The experimental evidence of only one type of mixed valence state, i.e., ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$ and ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$, in the ${\mathrm{Fe}}_{2-x}{\mathrm{Ti}}_x{\mathrm{O}}_{3-\delta }$ system will thus help to interpret further the origin of its geomagnetic properties and to illuminate fundamental issues regarding its spintronic potential.

We explore the influence of the phase of localized plasmon resonances on the magneto-optical activity of nanoferromagnets. We demonstrate that these systems can be described as two orthogonal damped oscillators coupled by the spin-orbit interaction. We prove that only the spin-orbit induced transverse plasmon plays an active role on the magneto-optical properties by controlling the relative amplitude and phase lag between the two oscillators. Our theoretical predictions are fully confirmed by magneto-optical Kerr effect and optical extinction measurements in nanostructures of different size and shape.

Magnetoelectric coupling has attracted interest due to its potential to write magnetic information with electric fields. In the model system of Fe islands on Cu(111), electric fields can induce martensitic phase transitions between ferromagnetic body-centered cubic and antiferromagnetic face-centered cubic phases. Here, we present a detailed study of the dynamics and energetics of the phase transition in the electric field of the junction of a scanning tunneling microscope. Statistical measurements allow us to reveal the influence of both the electric field and the crystallographic strain on the energy landscape of the two competing phases.

We study colonies of nonmotile, rod-shaped bacteria growing on solid substrates. In our model, bacteria interact purely mechanically, by pushing each other away as they grow, and consume a diffusing nutrient. We show that mechanical interactions control the velocity and shape of the advancing front, which leads to features that cannot be captured by established Fisher-Kolmogorov models. In particular, we find that the velocity depends on the elastic modulus of bacteria or their stickiness to the surface. Interestingly, we predict that the radius of an incompressible, strictly two-dimensional colony cannot grow linearly in time, unless it develops branches. Importantly, mechanical interactions can also account for the nonequilibrium transition between circular and branching colonies, often observed in the lab.

Catalytic engines can use hydrogen peroxide as a chemical fuel in order to drive motion at the microscale. The chemo-mechanical actuation is a complex mechanism based on the interrelation between catalytic reactions and electro-hydrodynamics phenomena. We studied catalytic micropumps using fluorescence confocal microscopy to image the concentration of protons in the liquid. In addition, we measured the motion of particles with different charges in order to map the spatial distributions of the electric field, the electrostatic potential and the fluid flow. The combination of these two techniques allows us to contrast the gradient of the concentration of protons against the spatial variation in the electric field. We present numerical simulations that reproduce the experimental results. Our work sheds light on the interrelation between the different processes at work in the chemomechanical actuation of catalytic pumps. Our experimental approach could be used to study other electrochemical systems with heterogeneous electrodes.

We study the interplay between phase separation and self-assembly in chains, rings, and branched structures in a model of particles with dissimilar patches. We extend Wertheim’s first order perturbation theory to include the effects of ring formation and to theoretically investigate the thermodynamics of the model. We find a peculiar shape for the vapor-liquid coexistence, featuring reentrant behavior in both phases and two critical points, despite the single-component nature of the system. The emergence of the lower critical point is caused by the self-assembly of rings taking place in the vapor, generating a phase with lower energy and lower entropy than the liquid. Monte Carlo simulations of the same model fully support these unconventional theoretical predictions.

The interplay between dissipation and internal interactions in quantum many-body systems gives rise to a wealth of novel phenomena. Here we investigate spin-$1/2$ chains with uniform local couplings to a Markovian environment using the time-dependent density matrix renormalization group. For the open $XXZ$ model, we discover that the decoherence time diverges in the thermodynamic limit. The coherence decay is then algebraic instead of exponential. This is due to a vanishing gap in the spectrum of the corresponding Liouville superoperator and can be explained on the basis of a perturbative treatment. In contrast, decoherence in the open transverse-field Ising model is found to be always exponential. In this case, the internal interactions can both facilitate and impede the environment-induced decoherence.

We consider the role of the internal kinetic energy of bound systems of matter in tests of the Einstein equivalence principle. Using the gravitational sector of the standard model extension, we show that stringent limits on equivalence principle violations in antimatter can be indirectly obtained from tests using bound systems of normal matter. We estimate the bound kinetic energy of nucleons in a range of light atomic species using Green’s function Monte Carlo calculations, and for heavier species using a Woods-Saxon model. We survey the sensitivities of existing and planned experimental tests of the equivalence principle, and report new constraints at the level of between a few parts in ${10}^6$ and parts in ${10}^8$ on violations of the equivalence principle for matter and antimatter.

Primordial decays of string theory moduli at $z\sim {10}^{12}$ naturally generate a dark radiation cosmic axion background with 0.1–1 keV energies. This cosmic axion background can be detected through axion-photon conversion in astrophysical magnetic fields to give quasithermal excesses in the extreme ultraviolet and soft x-ray bands. Substantial and observable luminosities may be generated even for axion-photon couplings $\ll {10}^{-11}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$. We propose that axion-photon conversion may explain the observed excess emission of soft x rays from galaxy clusters, and may also contribute to the diffuse unresolved cosmic x-ray background. We list a number of correlated predictions of the scenario.

The formation of a rotating instability associated with an ionization front (“rotating spoke”) and driven by a cross-field current in a cylindrical magnetized plasma is shown and explained for the first time on the basis of a fully kinetic simulation. The rotating spoke is a strong double layer (electrostatic sheath) moving towards the higher potential region at a velocity close to the critical ionization velocity, a concept proposed by Alfvén in the context of the formation of the solar system. The mechanisms of cross-field electron transport induced by this instability are analyzed.

The physics of Feshbach resonance is analyzed using an analytic expression for the $s$-wave scattering phase shift and the scattering length $a$ which we derive within a two-channel tight-binding model. Employing a unified treatment of bound states and resonances in terms of the Jost function, it is shown that, for strong interchannel coupling, Feshbach resonance can occur even when the closed channel does not have a bound state. This may extend the range of ultracold atomic systems that can be manipulated by Feshbach resonance. The dependence of the sign of $a$ on the coupling strength in the unitary limit is elucidated. As a by-product, analytic expressions are derived for the background scattering length, the external magnetic field at which resonance occurs, and the energy shift $\epsilon -{\epsilon }_B$, where $\epsilon$ is the scattering energy and ${\epsilon }_B$ is the bound-state energy in the closed channel (when there is one).

We demonstrate theoretically that interface engineering can drive germanium, one of the most commonly used semiconductors, into a topological insulating phase. Utilizing giant electric fields generated by charge accumulation at $\mathrm{GaAs}/\mathrm{Ge}/\mathrm{GaAs}$ opposite semiconductor interfaces and band folding, the new design can reduce the sizable gap in Ge and induce large spin-orbit interaction, which leads to a topological insulator transition. Our work provides a new method to realize topological insulators in commonly used semiconductors and suggests a promising approach to integrate it in well-developed semiconductor electronic devices.

We report on the epitaxial fabrication and electronic properties of a topological phase in strained $\alpha$-Sn on InSb. The topological surface state forms in the presence of an unusual band order not based on direct spin-orbit coupling, as shown in density functional and $GW$ slab-layer calculations. Angle-resolved photoemission including spin detection probes experimentally how the topological spin-polarized state emerges from the second bulk valence band. Moreover, we demonstrate the precise control of the Fermi level by dopants.

We demonstrate coherent one-color photoassociation of a Bose-Einstein condensate, which results in Rabi oscillations between atomic and molecular condensates. We attain atom-molecule Rabi frequencies that are comparable to decoherence rates by driving photoassociation of atoms in an ${}^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ condensate to a weakly bound level of the metastable ${}^{1}S_0+{}^{3}P_1$ molecular potential, which has a long lifetime and a large Franck-Condon overlap integral with the ground scattering state. Transient shifts and broadenings of the excitation spectrum are clearly seen at short times, and they create an asymmetric excitation profile that only displays Rabi oscillations for blue detuning from resonance.

We construct analytically, a new family of null solutions to Maxwell’s equations in free space whose field lines encode all torus knots and links. The evolution of these null fields, analogous to a compressible flow along the Poynting vector that is shear free, preserves the topology of the knots and links. Our approach combines the construction of null fields with complex polynomials on ${\mathbb{S}}^3$. We examine and illustrate the geometry and evolution of the solutions, making manifest the structure of nested knotted tori filled by the field lines.

In addition to explaining the masses of elementary particles, the Higgs boson may have far-reaching implications for the generation of the matter content in the Universe. For instance, the Higgs boson plays a key role in two main theories of baryogenesis, namely, electroweak baryogenesis and leptogenesis. In this Letter, we propose a new cosmological scenario where the Higgs chemical potential mediates asymmetries between visible and dark matter sectors, either generating a baryon asymmetry from a dark matter asymmetry or vice versa. We illustrate this mechanism with a simple model with two new fermions coupled to the Higgs boson and discuss the associated signatures.