We investigate the temporal and spacial evolution of single bursts and their statistics emerging in heterogeneous materials under a constant external load. Based on a fiber bundle model we demonstrate that when the load redistribution is localized along a propagating crack front, the average temporal shape of pulses has a right-handed asymmetry; however, for long range interaction a symmetric shape with parabolic functional form is obtained. The pulse shape and spatial evolution of bursts proved to be correlated, which can be exploited in materials’ testing. The probability distribution of the size and duration of bursts have power law behavior with a crossover to higher exponents as the load is lowered. The crossover emerges due to the competition of the slow and fast modes of local breaking being dominant at low and high loads, respectively.

We report the first nonlinear three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) numerical simulations of the reversed-field pinch (RFP) that exhibit a systematic repetition of quasisingle helicity states with the same dominant mode in between reconnection events. This distinctive feature of experimental self-organized helical RFP plasmas is reproduced in MHD simulations at low dissipation by allowing a helical modulation of the plasma magnetic boundary similar to the experimental one. Realistic mode amplitudes and magnetic topology are also found.

Electronic states at the ends of a narrow armchair nanoribbon give rise to a pair of nonlocally entangled spins. We propose two experiments to probe these magnetic states, based on magnetometry and tunneling spectroscopy, in which correlation effects lead to a striking, nonlinear response to external magnetic fields. On the basis of low-energy theories that we derive here, it is remarkably simple to assess these nonlinear signatures for magnetic edge states. The effective theories are especially suitable in parameter regimes where other methods such as quantum Monte Carlo simulations are exceedingly difficult due to exponentially small energy scales. The armchair ribbon setup discussed here provides a promisingly well-controlled (both experimentally and theoretically) environment for studying the principles behind edge magnetism in graphene-based nanostructures.

We consider chiral electrons moving along the one-dimensional helical edge of a two-dimensional topological insulator and interacting with a disordered chain of Kondo impurities. Assuming the electron-spin couplings of random anisotropies, we map this system to the problem of the pinning of the charge density wave by the disordered potential. This mapping proves that arbitrary weak anisotropic disorder in coupling of chiral electrons with spin impurities leads to the Anderson localization of the edge states.

We reveal quite small but different intermolecular valence band dispersions of sub-100-meV scale in crystalline films of Zn and Mn phthalocyanine (ZnPc and MnPc) and fluorinated ZnPc (${\mathrm{F}}_{16}\mathrm{ZnPc}$). The intermolecular transfer integrals are found to be reasonably dependent on the intermolecular distance with the $75\pm 5\mathrm{meV}/\AA$ relation. Furthermore, the angle-resolved photoemission spectra show anomalous dispersive behaviors such as phase flips and local-dimerization-derived periodicities, which originate from the site-specific intermolecular interaction induced by substituents.

We observe interfacial ferromagnetism in superlattices of the paramagnetic metal ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_3$ and the antiferromagnetic insulator ${\mathrm{CaMnO}}_3$. ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_3$ exhibits a thickness dependent metal-insulator transition and we find the emergence of ferromagnetism to be coincident with the conducting state of ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_3$. That is, only superlattices in which the ${\mathrm{LaNiO}}_3$ layers are metallic exhibit ferromagnetism. Using several magnetic probes, we have determined that the ferromagnetism arises in a single unit cell of ${\mathrm{CaMnO}}_3$ at the interface. Together these results suggest that ferromagnetism can be attributed to a double exchange interaction among Mn ions mediated by the adjacent itinerant metal.

We study a spin-$1/2$ SU(2) model on the honeycomb lattice with nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic exchange $J$ that favors Néel order and competing six-spin interactions $Q$ that favor a valence-bond-solid (VBS) state in which the bond energies order at the “columnar” wave vector $\mathbf{K}=(2\pi /3,-2\pi /3)$. We present quantum Monte Carlo evidence for a direct continuous quantum phase transition between Néel and VBS states, with exponents and logarithmic violations of scaling consistent with those at analogous deconfined critical points on the square lattice. Although this strongly suggests a description in terms of deconfined criticality, the measured threefold anisotropy of the phase of the VBS order parameter shows unusual near-marginal behavior at the critical point.

We demonstrate room temperature ferroelectricity in the epitaxial thin films of magnetoelectric gallium ferrite. Piezoforce measurements show a 180° phase shift of piezoresponse upon switching the electric field indicating nanoscale ferroelectricity in the thin films. Further, temperature-dependent impedance analysis with and without the presence of an external magnetic field clearly reveals a pronounced magnetodielectric effect across the magnetic transition temperature. In addition, our first principles calculations show that Fe ions are not only responsible for ferrimagnetism as observed earlier but also give rise to the observed ferroelectricity, making gallium ferrite a unique single phase multiferroic.

We employ fluorescence correlation spectroscopy (FCS) and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulations to study the mobility of tracers in polymer solutions. Excluded volume interactions result in crowding-induced slowdown, depending only on the polymer concentration. With specific tracer-polymer attractions, the tracer is slowed down at much lower concentrations, and a second diffusion component appears that is sensitive to the polymer chain length. The two components can be resolved by FCS, only if the distance traveled by the tracer in the polymer-bound state is greater than the FCS focal spot size. The tracer dynamics can be used as a sensitive probe of the nature and strength of interactions, which—despite their local character—emphasize the role of chain connectivity.

The question of how irreversibility can emerge as a generic phenomenon when the underlying mechanical theory is reversible has been a long-standing fundamental problem for both classical and quantum mechanics. We describe a mechanism for the appearance of irreversibility that applies to coherent, isolated systems in a pure quantum state. This equilibration mechanism requires only an assumption of sufficiently complex internal dynamics and natural information-theoretic constraints arising from the infeasibility of collecting an astronomical amount of measurement data. Remarkably, we are able to prove that irreversibility can be understood as typical without assuming decoherence or restricting to coarse-grained observables, and hence occurs under distinct conditions and time scales from those implied by the usual decoherence point of view. We illustrate the effect numerically in several model systems and prove that the effect is typical under the standard random-matrix conjecture for complex quantum systems.

During recent years, dynamical decoupling (DD) has gained relevance as a tool for manipulating and interrogating quantum systems. This is particularly relevant for spins involved in nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), where DD sequences can be used to prolong quantum coherences, or to selectively couple or decouple the effects imposed by random environmental fluctuations. In this Letter, we show that these concepts can be exploited to selectively recouple diffusion processes in restricted spaces. The ensuing method provides a novel tool to measure restriction lengths in confined systems such as capillaries, pores or cells. The principles of this method for selectively recoupling diffusion-driven decoherence, its standing within the context of diffusion NMR, extensions to the characterization of other kinds of quantum fluctuations, and corroborating experiments, are presented.

We propose and theoretically investigate a hybrid system composed of a crystal of trapped ions coupled to a cloud of ultracold fermions. The ions form a periodic lattice and induce a band structure in the atoms. This system combines the advantages of high fidelity operations and detection offered by trapped ion systems with ultracold atomic systems. It also features close analogies to natural solid-state systems, as the atomic degrees of freedom couple to phonons of the ion lattice, thereby emulating a solid-state system. Starting from the microscopic many-body Hamiltonian, we derive the low energy Hamiltonian, including the atomic band structure, and give an expression for the atom-phonon coupling. We discuss possible experimental implementations such as a Peierls-like transition into a period-doubled dimerized state.

We describe the presence of wave front dislocations in magnetohydrodynamic waves in stratified stellar atmospheres. Scalar dislocations such as edges and vortices can appear in Alfvén waves, as well as in general magnetoacoustic waves. We detect those dislocations in observations of magnetohydrodynamic waves in sunspots in the solar chromosphere. Through the measured charge of all the dislocations observed, we can give for the first time estimates of the modal contribution in the waves propagating along magnetic fields in solar sunspots.

Nonradiative decay channels in the $L$-edge fluorescence yield spectra from transition-metal–aqueous solutions give rise to spectral distortions with respect to x-ray transmission spectra. Their origin is unraveled here using partial and inverse partial fluorescence yields on the microjet combined with multireference ab initio electronic structure calculations. Comparing ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{2+}$, ${\mathrm{Fe}}^{3+}$, and ${\mathrm{Co}}^{2+}$ systems we demonstrate and quantify unequivocally the state-dependent electron delocalization within the manifold of $d$ orbitals as one origin of this observation.

We study the order in which a strong laser field removes multiple electrons from a van der Waals (vdW) cluster. The ${\mathrm{N}}_2\mathrm{Ar}$, with an equilibrium $T$-shaped geometry, contains both a covalent and a vdW bond and serves as a simple yet rich example. Interestingly, the fragmenting double and triple ionizations of ${\mathrm{N}}_2\mathrm{Ar}$ with vdW bond breaking are favored when the vdW bond is aligned along the laser field polarization vector. However, the orientation of the covalent bond with respect to the laser field rules the triple ionization when both the covalent and vdW bonds are simultaneously broken. Electron-localization-assisted enhanced ionization and molecular orbital profile-dominated, orientation-dependent ionization are discussed to reveal the order of electrons release from different sites of ${\mathrm{N}}_2\mathrm{Ar}$.

We propose and simulate a new type of attosecond time-resolved spectroscopy of electron-hole dynamics, applicable particularly to ultrafast hole migration. Attosecond ionization in the inner-valence region is followed by a vacuum ultraviolet probe inducing single-photon laser-enabled Auger decay, a one-photon–two-electron transition filling the inner-valence vacancy. The double ionization probability as a function of the attosecond pump-vacuum ultraviolet probe delay captures efficiently the ultrafast inner-valence hole dynamics. Detailed ab initio calculations are presented for inner-valence hole migration in glycine.

We demonstrate that the nonlinear optomechanical interaction leads to parametric down-conversion, capable of generating polariton pairs formed by photons and phonons. The nonlinearity is resonantly enhanced through frequency matching, and such parametric down-conversion does not require the stringent condition that the single-photon optomechanical coupling strength $g$ be on the order of the mechanical resonance frequency ${\omega }_m$. We provide analytical results for the frequency matching condition and derive the nonlinear coefficient. Numerical simulations on polariton pair generation are presented, showing that photonlike polaritons, phononlike polaritons, and mixed photon-phonon polaritons can be selectively generated. Such nonlinear interaction offers a promising way for harnessing the optomechanical nonlinearity to manipulate photons and phonons.

Even though synchronization in autonomous systems has been observed for over three centuries, reports of systematic experimental studies on synchronized oscillators are limited. Here, we report on observations of internal synchronization in coupled silicon micromechanical oscillators associated with a reduction in the relative phase random walk that is modulated by the magnitude of the reactive coupling force between the oscillators. Additionally, for the first time, a significant improvement in the frequency stability of synchronized micromechanical oscillators is reported. The concept presented here is scalable and could be suitably engineered to establish the basis for a new class of highly precise miniaturized clocks and frequency references.

A previously unknown instability creates space-filling lattices of 3D vortices in linearly stable, rotating, stratified shear flows. The instability starts from an easily excited critical layer. The layer intensifies by drawing energy from the background shear and rolls up into vortices that excite new critical layers and vortices. The vortices self-similarly replicate to create lattices of turbulent vortices. The vortices persist for all time. This self-replication occurs in stratified Couette flows and in the dead zones of protoplanetary disks where it can destabilize Keplerian flows.

To improve temporal coherence in electron beam based light sources, various techniques employ frequency up conversion of external seed sources via electron beam density modulation; however, the energy spread of the beam may hinder the harmonic generation efficiency. In this Letter, a method is described for cooling the electron beam energy spread by off-resonance seed laser modulation, through the use of a transversely dispersed electron beam and a modulator undulator with an appropriate transverse field gradient. With this novel mechanism, it is shown that the frequency up-conversion efficiency can be significantly enhanced. We present theoretical analysis and numerical simulations for seeded soft x-ray free-electron laser and storage ring based coherent harmonic generation in the extreme ultraviolet spectral region.