We investigate the effect of strong nonlocal coupling in bistable spatially extended systems by using a Lorentzian-like kernel. This effect through front interaction drastically alters the space-time dynamics of bistable systems by stabilizing localized structures in one and two dimensions, and by affecting the kinetics law governing their behavior with respect to weak nonlocal and local coupling. We derive an analytical formula for the front interaction law and show that the kinetics governing the formation of localized structures obeys a law inversely proportional to their size to some power. To illustrate this mechanism, we consider two systems, the Nagumo model describing population dynamics and nonlinear optics model describing a ring cavity filled with a left-handed material. Numerical solutions of the governing equations are in close agreement with analytical predictions.

Hamilton’s principle of stationary action lies at the foundation of theoretical physics and is applied in many other disciplines from pure mathematics to economics. Despite its utility, Hamilton’s principle has a subtle pitfall that often goes unnoticed in physics: it is formulated as a boundary value problem in time but is used to derive equations of motion that are solved with initial data. This subtlety can have undesirable effects. I present a formulation of Hamilton’s principle that is compatible with initial value problems. Remarkably, this leads to a natural formulation for the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian dynamics of generic nonconservative systems, thereby filling a long-standing gap in classical mechanics. Thus, dissipative effects, for example, can be studied with new tools that may have applications in a variety of disciplines. The new formalism is demonstrated by two examples of nonconservative systems: an object moving in a fluid with viscous drag forces and a harmonic oscillator coupled to a dissipative environment.

Using Lagrangian simulations of a viscoelastic fluid modeled with an Oldroyd-B constitutive equation, we demonstrate that the flow through a closely spaced linear array of cylinders confined in a channel undergoes a transition to a purely elastic turbulent regime above a critical Weissenberg number ($We$). The high-$We$ regime is characterized by an unsteady motion and a sudden increase in the flow resistance in qualitative agreement with experimental observations. Furthermore, a power-law scaling behavior of the integral quantities as well as enhanced mixing of mass is observed. A stability analysis based on the dynamic mode decomposition method allows us to identify the most energetic modes responsible for the unsteady behavior, which correspond to filamental structures of polymer over- or underextension advected by the main flow preserving their shape. These time-dependent flow features strictly resemble the elastic waves reported in recent numerical simulations.

High-order harmonics and attosecond pulses of light can be generated when ultraintense, ultrashort laser pulses reflect off a solid-density plasma with a sharp vacuum interface, i.e., a plasma mirror. We demonstrate experimentally the key influence of the steepness of the plasma-vacuum interface on the interaction, by measuring the spectral and spatial properties of harmonics generated on a plasma mirror whose initial density gradient scale length $L$ is continuously varied. Time-resolved interferometry is used to separately measure this scale length.

We report the experimental demonstration of a broadband negative refractive index obtained in a labyrinthine acoustic metamaterial structure. Two different approaches were employed to prove the metamaterial negative index nature: one-dimensional extractions of effective parameters from reflection and transmission measurements and two-dimensional prism-based measurements that convincingly show the transmission angle corresponding to negative refraction. The transmission angles observed in the latter case also agree very well with the refractive index obtained in the one-dimensional measurements and numerical simulations. We expect this labyrinthine metamaterial to become the unit cell of choice for practical acoustic metamaterial devices that require broadband and significantly negative indices of refraction.

The quantum Hall effect is observed in a two-dimensional electron gas formed in millimeter-scale hydrogenated graphene, with a mobility less than $10{\mathrm{cm}}^2/\mathrm{V}·\mathrm{s}$ and corresponding Ioffe-Regel disorder parameter $(k_F\lambda {)}^{-1}\gg 1$. In a zero magnetic field and low temperatures, the hydrogenated graphene is insulating with a two-point resistance of the order of $250h/e^2$. The application of a strong magnetic field generates a negative colossal magnetoresistance, with the two-point resistance saturating within 0.5% of $h/2e^2$ at 45 T. Our observations are consistent with the opening of an impurity-induced gap in the density of states of graphene. The interplay between electron localization by defect scattering and magnetic confinement in two-dimensional atomic crystals is discussed.

We report on pairs of converging-diverging spin vortices in $\mathrm{Co}/\mathrm{Rh}/\mathrm{NiFe}$ trilayer disks. The lateral magnetization distribution of these effective spin merons is directly imaged by means of element-selective x-ray microscopy. By this method, both the divergence and circulation states of the individual layers are identified to be antisymmetric. Reversal measurements on corresponding continuous films reveal that biquadratic interlayer exchange coupling is the cause for the effective meron pair formation. Moreover, their three-dimensional magnetization structure is determined by micromagnetic simulations. Interestingly, the magnetic induction aligns along a flux-closing torus. This toroidal topology enforces a symmetry break, which links the core polarities to the divergence configuration.

Thermally induced domain wall motion in a magnetic insulator was observed using spatiotemporally resolved polar magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy. The following results were found: (i) the domain wall moves towards hot regime; (ii) a threshold temperature gradient ($5\mathrm{K}/\mathrm{mm}$), i.e., a minimal temperature gradient required to induce domain wall motion; (iii) a finite domain wall velocity outside of the region with a temperature gradient, slowly decreasing as a function of distance, which is interpreted to result from the penetration of a magnonic current into the constant temperature region; and (iv) a linear dependence of the average domain wall velocity on temperature gradient, beyond a threshold thermal bias. Our observations can be qualitatively explained using a magnonic spin transfer torque mechanism, which suggests the utility of magnonic spin transfer torque for controlling magnetization dynamics.

We report the creation and real-space observation of magnetic structures with well-defined topological properties and a lateral size as low as about 150 nm. They are generated in a thin ferrimagnetic film by ultrashort single optical laser pulses. Thanks to their topological properties, such structures can be classified as Skyrmions of a particular type that does not require an externally applied magnetic field for stabilization. Besides Skyrmions, we are able to generate magnetic features with topological characteristics that can be tuned by changing the laser fluence. The stability of such features is accounted for by an analytical model based on the interplay between the exchange and the magnetic dipole-dipole interactions.

The relation between large-scale brain structure and function is an outstanding open problem in neuroscience. We approach this problem by studying the dynamical regime under which realistic spatiotemporal patterns of brain activity emerge from the empirically derived network of human brain neuroanatomical connections. The results show that critical dynamics unfolding on the structural connectivity of the human brain allow the recovery of many key experimental findings obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging, such as divergence of the correlation length, the anomalous scaling of correlation fluctuations, and the emergence of large-scale resting state networks.

We propose a definition of nonclassicality for a single-mode quantum-optical process based on its action on coherent states. If a quantum process transforms a coherent state to a nonclassical state, it is verified to be nonclassical. To identify nonclassical processes, we introduce a representation for quantum processes, called the process-nonclassicality quasiprobability distribution, whose negativities indicate nonclassicality of the process. Using this distribution, we derive a relation for predicting nonclassicality of the output states for a given input state. We experimentally demonstrate our method by considering the single-photon addition as a nonclassical process and predicting nonclassicality of the output state for an input thermal state.

We report on the immersion of a spin qubit encoded in a single trapped ion into a spin-polarized neutral atom environment, which possesses both continuous (motional) and discrete (spin) degrees of freedom. The environment offers the possibility of a precise microscopic description, which allows us to understand dynamics and decoherence from first principles. We observe the spin dynamics of the qubit and measure the decoherence times ($T_1$ and $T_2$), which are determined by the spin-exchange interaction as well as by an unexpectedly strong spin-nonconserving coupling mechanism.

We have measured the stopping powers and straggling of fast, highly ionized atoms passing through thin bilayer targets made up of metals and insulators. We were surprised to find that the energy losses as well as the straggling depend on the ordering of the target and have small but significantly different values on bilayer reversal. We ascribe this newly found difference in energy loss to the surface energy loss field effect due to the differing surface wake fields as the beam exits the target in the two cases. This finding is validated with experiments using several different projectiles, velocities, and bilayer targets. Both partners of the diatomic molecular ions also display similar results. A comparison of the energy loss results with those of previous theoretical predictions for the surface wake potential for fast ions in solids supports the existence of a self-wake.

An exact analytic solution for the dynamics of vortex pairs is obtained for rapid temperature quenches of a superfluid film starting from the line of critical points below the critical temperature $T_{\mathrm{KT}}$. An approximate solution for quenches at and above above $T_{\mathrm{KT}}$ provides insights into the origin of logarithmic transients in the vortex decay, and is in general agreement with recent simulations of the quenched $XY$ model. These results confirm that there is no “creation” of vortices whose density increases with the quench rate as predicted by the Kibble-Zurek theory but only monotonic decay of the thermal vortices already present at the initial temperature.

Diborane (${\mathrm{B}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_6$), a high energy density material, was believed to be stable in a wide $P$, $T$ interval. A systematic investigation of the B-H system using the ab initio variable-composition evolutionary simulations shows that boron monohydride (BH) is thermodynamically stable and can coexist with solid B, ${\mathrm{H}}_2$, and ${\mathrm{B}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_6$ in a wide pressure range above 50 GPa. ${\mathrm{B}}_2{\mathrm{H}}_6$ becomes unstable and decomposes into the Ibam phase of BH and ${\mathrm{H}}_2$ ($C2/c$) at 153 GPa. The semiconducting layered Ibam structure of BH at 168 GPa transforms into a metallic phase with space group $P6/mmm$ and a 3D topology with strong B-B and B-H covalent bonds. The Ibam-$P6/mmm$ transformation pathway suggests the possibility of obtaining the metastable Pbcm phase on cold decompression of the $P6/mmm$ phase. The electron-phonon coupling calculations indicate that $P6/mmm$-BH is a phonon-mediated superconductor with a critical temperature of superconductivity ($T_c$) of 14.1–21.4 K at 175 GPa.

The propagation of an adhesive crack through an anisotropic heterogeneous interface is considered. Tuning the local toughness distribution function and spatial correlation is numerically shown to induce a transition between weak to strong pinning conditions. While the macroscopic effective toughness is given by the mean local toughness in the case of weak pinning, a systematic toughness enhancement is observed for strong pinning (the critical point of the depinning transition). A self-consistent approximation is shown to account very accurately for this evolution, without any free parameter.

An ab initio method is presented to calculate shallow impurity levels in bulk semiconductors. This method combines the $GW$ calculation for the treatment of the central-cell potential with a potential patching method for large systems (with 64 000 atoms) to describe the impurity state wave functions. The calculated acceptor levels in Si, GaAs, and an isovalent bound state of GaP are in excellent agreement with experiments with a root-mean-square error of 8.4 meV.

We propose an experimental technique for classifying the topology of band structures realized in optical lattices, based on a generalization of topological charge pumping in quantum Hall systems to cold atoms in optical lattices. Time-of-flight measurement along one spatial direction combined with in situ detection along the transverse direction provides a direct measure of the system’s Chern number, as we illustrate by calculations for the Hofstadter lattice. Based on an analogy with Wannier function techniques of topological band theory, the method is very general and also allows the measurement of other topological invariants, such as the ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ topological invariant of time-reversal symmetric insulators.

A Skyrmion crystal typically arises from helical spin structures induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interaction. Experimentally its physical exploration has been impeded because it is a rarity and is found only within a narrow temperature and magnetic field range. We present a method for the assembly of a two-dimensional Skyrmion crystal based upon a combination of a perpendicularly magnetized film and nanopatterned arrays of magnetic vortices that are geometrically confined within nanodisks. The practical feasibility of the method is validated by micromagnetic simulations and computed Skyrmion number per unit cell. We also quantify a wide range in temperature and field strength over which the Skyrmion crystal can be stabilized without the need for any intrinsic Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions, which otherwise is needed to underpin the arrangement as is the case in the very few known Skyrmion crystal cases. Thus, our suggested scheme involves a qualitative breakthrough that comes with a substantial quantitative advance.

Blob theory has been widely applied to describe polymer conformations and dynamics in nanoconfinement. In slit confinement, blob theory predicts a scaling exponent of $2/3$ for polymer diffusivity as a function of slit height, yet a large body of experimental studies using DNA produce a scaling exponent significantly less than $2/3$. In this work, we develop a theory that predicts that this discrepancy occurs because the segment correlation function for a semiflexible chain such as DNA does not follow the Flory exponent for length scales smaller than the persistence length. We show that these short length scale effects contribute significantly to the scaling for the DNA diffusivity, but do not appreciably affect the scalings for static properties. Our theory is fully supported by Monte Carlo simulations, quantitative agreement with DNA experiments, and the results reconcile this outstanding problem for confined polymers.