The nature of subproton scale fluctuations in the solar wind is an open question, partly because two similar types of electromagnetic turbulence can occur: kinetic Alfvén turbulence and whistler turbulence. These two possibilities, however, have one key qualitative difference: whistler turbulence, unlike kinetic Alfvén turbulence, has negligible power in density fluctuations. In this Letter, we present new observational data, as well as analytical and numerical results, to investigate this difference. These results show, for the first time, that the fluctuations well below the proton scale are predominantly kinetic Alfvén turbulence, and, if present at all, the whistler fluctuations make up only a small fraction of the total energy.

Quantum-chemical calculations are combined to a model Frenkel-Holstein Hamiltonian to assess the nature of the lowest electronic excitations in the pentacene crystal. We show that an admixture of charge-transfer excitations into the lowest singlet excited states form the origin of the Davydov splitting and mediate instantaneous singlet exciton fission by direct optical excitation of coherently coupled single and double exciton states, in agreement with recent experiments.

We study the low-energy states of Kondo alloys as a function of the magnetic impurity concentration per site $x$ and the conduction electron average site occupation $n_c$. Using two complementary approaches, the mean-field coherent potential approximation and the strong-coupling limit, we identify and characterize two different Fermi-liquid regimes. We propose that both regimes are separated by a Lifshitz transition at $x=n_c$. Indeed, we predict a discontinuity of the number of quasiparticles that are enclosed in the Fermi surface. This feature could provide a scenario for the non-Fermi liquid properties that were recently observed in Kondo alloy systems around $x=n_c$.

The self-consistent $GW$ band gaps are known to be significantly overestimated. We show that this overestimation is, to a large extent, due to the neglect of the contribution of the lattice polarization to the screening of the electron-electron interaction. To solve this problem, we derive within the $GW$ formalism a generalized plasmon-pole model that accounts for lattice polarization. The resulting $GW$ self-energy is used to calculate the band structures of a set of binary semiconductors and insulators. The lattice contribution always decreases the band gap. The shrinkage increases with the size of the longitudinal-transverse optical splitting and it can represent more than 15% of the band gap in highly polar compounds, reducing the band-gap percentage error by a factor of 3.

Whereas thermoelectric performance is normally limited by the figure of merit $ZT$, transverse thermoelectrics can achieve arbitrarily large temperature differences in a single leg even with inferior $ZT$ by being geometrically tapered. We introduce a band-engineered transverse thermoelectric with $p$-type Seebeck in one direction and $n$-type orthogonal, resulting in off-diagonal terms that drive heat flow transverse to electrical current. Such materials are advantageous for microscale devices and cryogenic temperatures—exactly the regimes where standard longitudinal thermoelectrics fail. $\mathrm{InAs}/\mathrm{GaSb}$ type II superlattices are shown to have the appropriate band structure for use as a transverse thermoelectric.

We introduce an electronically coarse-grained description of water representing all long range, many-body electronic responses via an embedded quantum oscillator. Leading-order response coefficients and gas phase electrostatic moments are exactly reproduced. Molecular dynamics, using electronic path integral sampling, shows that this framework is sufficient for a realistic liquid to emerge naturally with transferability extending further to nonambient state points and to the free water surface. The model allows the strength of many-body dispersion and polarization to be adjusted independently and these are found to have significant effects on the condensed phase.

The flagellated protozoan Salpingoeca rosetta is one of the closest relatives of multicellular animals. Unicellular S. rosetta can be induced to form multicellular colonies, but colonies swim more slowly than individual cells so the advantages conferred by colony formation are uncertain. Here we use theoretical models to show that hydrodynamic cooperation between cells can increase the fluid supply to the colony, an important predictor of feeding rate. Our results suggest that hydrodynamic benefits may have been an important selective factor in the evolution of early multicellular animals.

Exploration and trapping properties of random walkers that may evanesce at any time as they walk have seen very little treatment in the literature, and yet a finite lifetime is a frequent occurrence, and its effects on a number of random walk properties may be profound. For instance, whereas the average number of distinct sites visited by an immortal walker grows with time without bound, that of a mortal walker may, depending on dimensionality and rate of evanescence, remain finite or keep growing with the passage of time. This number can in turn be used to calculate other classic quantities such as the survival probability of a target surrounded by diffusing traps. If the traps are immortal, the survival probability will vanish with increasing time. However, if the traps are evanescent, the target may be spared a certain death. We analytically calculate a number of basic and broadly used quantities for evanescent random walkers.

Galactic nuclei are expected to be densely populated with stellar- and intermediate-mass black holes. Exploring this population will have important consequences for the observation prospects of gravitational waves as well as understanding galactic evolution. The gas cloud G2 currently approaching Sgr A* provides an unprecedented opportunity to probe the black hole and neutron star population of the Galactic nucleus. We examine the possibility of a G2-cloud–black-hole encounter and its detectability with current x-ray satellites, such as Chandra and NuSTAR. We find that multiple encounters are likely to occur close to the pericenter, which may be detectable upon favorable circumstances. This opportunity provides an additional important science case for leading x-ray observatories to closely follow G2 on its way to the nucleus.

Using $pp$ collision data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $1.0{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ and collected by LHCb in 2011 at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV, we report the measurement of direct $CP$ violation in $B_s^0\to K^{-}{\pi }^{+}$ decays, $A_{CP}(B_s^0\to K^{-}{\pi }^{+})=0.27\pm 0.04(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.01(\mathrm{syst})$, with significance exceeding 5 standard deviations. This is the first observation of $CP$ violation in the decays of $B_s^0$ mesons. Furthermore, we provide an improved determination of direct $CP$ violation in $B^0\to K^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ decays, $A_{CP}(B^0\to K^{+}{\pi }^{-})=-0.080\pm 0.007(\mathrm{stat})\pm 0.003(\mathrm{syst})$, which is the most precise measurement of this quantity to date.

Neutrinoless double beta decay, if observed, could distinguish whether the neutrino is a Dirac or a Majorana particle, and it could be used to determine the absolute scale of the neutrino masses. ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$ is one of the most promising candidates for observing this rare event. However, until recently there were no positive results for the allowed and less rare two-neutrino double beta decay mode. The small nuclear matrix element associated with the long half-life represents a challenge for nuclear structure models used for its calculation. We report a new shell-model analysis of the two-neutrino double beta decay of ${}^{136}\mathrm{Xe}$, which takes into account all relevant nuclear orbitals necessary to fully describe the associated Gamow-Teller strength. We further use the new model to analyze the main contributions to the neutrinoless double beta decay matrix element, and show that they are also diminished.

A single neutral atom is trapped in a three-dimensional optical lattice at the center of a high-finesse optical resonator. Using fluorescence imaging and a shiftable standing-wave trap, the atom is deterministically loaded into the maximum of the intracavity field where the atom-cavity coupling is strong. After 5 ms of Raman sideband cooling, the three-dimensional motional ground state is populated with a probability of $(89\pm 2)\%$. Our system is the first to simultaneously achieve quantum control over all degrees of freedom of a single atom: its position and momentum, its internal state, and its coupling to light.

Reciprocity is fundamental to light transport and is a concept that holds also in rather complex systems. Yet, reciprocity can be switched off even in linear, isotropic, and passive media by setting the material structure into motion. In highly dispersive multilayers this leads to a fairly large forward-backward asymmetry in the pulse transmission. Moreover, in multilevel systems, this transport phenomenon can be all-optically enhanced. For atomic multilayer structures made of three-level cold ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ atoms, for instance, forward-backward transmission contrast around 95% can be obtained already at atomic speeds in the meter per second range. The scheme we illustrate may open up avenues for optical isolation that were not previously accessible.

Intermittent or serrated plastic flow is widely observed in the deformation of bulk metallic glasses (BMGs) or other disordered solids at low temperatures. However, the underlying physical process responsible for the phenomena is still poorly understood. Here, we give an interpretation of the serrated flow behavior in BMGs by relating the atomic-scale deformation with the macroscopic shear band behavior. Our theoretical analysis shows that serrated flow in fact arises from an intrinsic dynamic instability of the shear band sliding, which is determined by a critical stiffness parameter in stick-slip dynamics. Based on this, the transition from serrated to nonserrated flow with the strain rate or the temperature is well predicted and the effects of various extrinsic and intrinsic factors on shear band stability can be quantitatively analyzed in BMGs. Our results, which are verified by a series of compression tests on various BMGs, provide key ingredients to fundamentally understand serrated flow and may bridge the gap between the atomic-scale physics and the larger-scale shear band dynamics governing the deformation of BMGs.

Interfacial topological states are a key element of interest for topological insulator thin films, and their properties can depend sensitively on the atomic bonding configuration. We employ in situ nonresonant and resonant surface x-ray scattering to study the interfacial and internal structure of a prototypical topological film system: ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Te}}_3$ grown on Si(111). The results reveal a Te-dominated buffer layer, a large interfacial spacing, and a slightly relaxed and partially strained bottom quintuple layer of an otherwise properly stacked bulklike ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Te}}_3$ film. The presence of the buffer layer indicates a nontrivial process of interface formation and a mechanism for electronic decoupling between the topological film and the Si(111) substrate.

The discovery of a pressure induced iron-related spin crossover in ${\mathrm{Mg}}_{(1\mathrm{\text{−}}x)}{\mathrm{Fe}}_x\mathrm{O}$ ferropericlase (Fp) and Mg-silicate perovskite, the major phases of Earth’s lower mantle, has raised new questions about mantle properties which are of central importance to seismology. Despite extensive experimental work on the anomalous elasticity of Fp throughout the crossover, inconsistencies reported in the literature are still unexplained. Here we introduce a formulation for thermoelasticity of spin crossover systems, apply it to Fp by combining it with predictive first principles density-functional theory with on-site repulsion parameter $U$ calculations, and contrast results with available data on samples with various iron concentrations. We explain why the shear modulus of Fp should not soften along the crossover, as observed in some experiments, predict its velocities at lower mantle conditions, and show the importance of constraining the elastic properties of minerals without extrapolations for analyses of the thermochemical state of this region.

We investigate the thermodynamic properties of a half-filled $\mathrm{SU}(2N)$ Hubbard model in the two-dimensional square lattice by the method of the determinant quantum Monte Carlo simulation, which is free of the fermion “sign problem.” The large number of hyperfine-spin components enhances spin fluctuations, which facilitates the Pomeranchuk cooling to temperatures comparable to the superexchange energy scale in the case of SU(6). Various physical quantities including entropy, charge fluctuations, and spin correlations are calculated.

Complementarity restricts the accuracy with which incompatible quantum observables can be jointly measured. Despite popular conception, the Heisenberg uncertainty relation does not quantify this principle. We report the experimental verification of universally valid complementarity relations, including an improved relation derived here. We exploit Einstein-Poldolsky-Rosen correlations between two photonic qubits to jointly measure incompatible observables of one. The product of our measurement inaccuracies is low enough to violate the widely used, but not universally valid, Arthurs-Kelly relation.

We propose a method for Hamiltonian engineering that requires no local control but only relies on collective qubit rotations and field gradients. The technique achieves a spatial modulation of the coupling strengths via a dynamical construction of a weighting function combined with a Bragg grating. As an example, we demonstrate how to generate the ideal Hamiltonian for perfect quantum information transport between two separated nodes of a large spin network. We engineer a spin chain with optimal couplings starting from a large spin network, such as one naturally occurring in crystals, while decoupling all unwanted interactions. For realistic experimental parameters, our method can be used to drive almost perfect quantum information transport at room temperature. The Hamiltonian engineering method can be made more robust under decoherence and coupling disorder by a novel apodization scheme. Thus, the method is quite general and can be used to engineer the Hamiltonian of many complex spin lattices with different topologies and interactions.

We design a random walk to explore fractal landscapes such as those describing chaotic transients in dynamical systems. We show that the random walk moves efficiently only when its step length depends on the height of the landscape via the largest Lyapunov exponent of the chaotic system. We propose a generalization of the Wang-Landau algorithm which constructs not only the density of states (transient time distribution) but also the correct step length. As a result, we obtain a flat-histogram Monte Carlo method which samples fractal landscapes in polynomial time, a dramatic improvement over the exponential scaling of traditional uniform-sampling methods. Our results are not limited by the dimensionality of the landscape and are confirmed numerically in chaotic systems with up to 30 dimensions.