We report a measurement of the time-dependent ratio of $D^0\to K^{+}{\pi }^{-}$ to $D^0\to K^{-}{\pi }^{+}$ decay rates in $D^{*+}$-tagged events using $1.0{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity recorded by the LHCb experiment. We measure the mixing parameters $x^{\prime 2}=(-0.9\pm 1.3)\times {10}^{-4}$, $y^{\prime }=(7.2\pm 2.4)\times {10}^{-3}$, and the ratio of doubly-Cabibbo-suppressed to Cabibbo-favored decay rates $R_D=(3.52\pm 0.15)\times {10}^{-3}$, where the uncertainties include statistical and systematic sources. The result excludes the no-mixing hypothesis with a probability corresponding to 9.1 standard deviations and represents the first observation of $D^0-{\overline{D}}^0$ oscillations from a single measurement.

Low-lying collective excitations in even-even vibrational and transitional nuclei may be described semiclassically as quadrupole running waves on the surface of the nucleus (“tidal waves”), and the observed vibrational-rotational behavior can be thought of as resulting from a rotating condensate of interacting $d$ bosons. These concepts have been investigated by measuring lifetimes of the levels in the yrast band of the ${}^{102}\mathrm{Pd}$ nucleus with the Doppler shift attenuation method. The extracted $B(E2)$ reduced transition probabilities for the yrast band display a monotonic increase with spin, in agreement with the interpretation based on rotation-induced condensation of aligned $d$ bosons.

The existence, stability properties, and dynamical evolution of localized spatiotemporal chaos are studied. We provide evidence of spatiotemporal chaotic localized structures in a liquid crystal light valve experiment with optical feedback. The observations are supported by numerical simulations of the Lifshitz model describing the system. This model exhibits coexistence between a uniform state and a spatiotemporal chaotic pattern, which emerge as the necessary ingredients to obtain localized spatiotemporal chaos. In addition, we have derived a simplified model that allows us to unveil the front interaction mechanism at the origin of the localized spatiotemporal chaotic structures.

We study experimentally the synchronization patterns in time-delayed directed Boolean networks of excitable systems. We observe a transition in the network dynamics when the refractory time of the individual systems is adjusted. When the refractory time is on the same order of magnitude as the mean link time delays or the heterogeneities of the link time delays, cluster synchronization patterns change, or are suppressed entirely, respectively. We also show that these transitions occur when we change the properties of only a small number of driver nodes identified by their larger in degree; hence, the synchronization patterns can be controlled locally by these nodes. Our findings have implications for synchronization in biological neural networks.

We study analytically, numerically, and experimentally the nonlinear symmetry breaking induced by broken reflection symmetry in an optical fiber system. In particular, we investigate the modulation instability regime and reveal the key role of the third-order dispersion on the asymmetry in the spectrum of the dissipative structures. Our theory explains early observations, and the predictions are in excellent agreement with our experimental findings.

Crumpling and folding of paper are at first sight very different ways of confining thin sheets in a small volume: the former one is random and stochastic whereas the latest one is regular and deterministic. Nevertheless, certain similarities exist. Crumpling is surprisingly inefficient: a typical crumpled paper ball in a waste-bin consists of as much as 80% air. Similarly, if one folds a sheet of paper repeatedly in two, the necessary force becomes so large that it is impossible to fold it more than six or seven times. Here we show that the stiffness that builds up in the two processes is of the same nature, and therefore simple folding models allow us to capture also the main features of crumpling. An original geometrical approach shows that crumpling is hierarchical, just as the repeated folding. For both processes the number of layers increases with the degree of compaction. We find that for both processes the crumpling force increases as a power law with the number of folded layers, and that the dimensionality of the compaction process (crumpling or folding) controls the exponent of the scaling law between the force and the compaction ratio.

We present direct statistical simulation of jet formation on a $\beta$ plane, solving for the statistics of a fluid flow via an expansion in cumulants. Here we compare an expansion truncated at second order (CE2) to statistics accumulated by direct numerical simulations. We show that, for jets near equilibrium, CE2 is capable of reproducing the jet structure (although some differences remain in the second cumulant). However, as the degree of departure from equilibrium is increased (as measured by the zonostrophy parameter), the jets meander more and CE2 becomes less accurate. We discuss a possible remedy by inclusion of higher cumulants.

A method is proposed to generate trains of few-cycle x-ray pulses from a free-electron laser (FEL) amplifier via a compact “afterburner” extension consisting of several few-period undulator sections separated by electron chicane delays. Simulations show that in the hard x ray (wavelength $\sim 0.1\mathrm{nm}$; photon energy $\sim 10\mathrm{keV}$) and with peak powers approaching normal FEL saturation (GW) levels, root mean square pulse durations of 700 zs may be obtained. This is approximately two orders of magnitude shorter than that possible for normal FEL amplifier operation. The spectrum is discretely multichromatic with a bandwidth envelope increased by approximately 2 orders of magnitude over unseeded FEL amplifier operation. Such a source would significantly enhance research opportunity in atomic dynamics and push capability toward nuclear dynamics.

A variety of statistically steady energy spectra in elastic wave turbulence have been reported in numerical simulations, experiments, and theoretical studies. Focusing on the energy levels of the system, we perform direct numerical simulations according to the Föppl-von Kármán equation, and successfully reproduce the variability of the energy spectra by changing the magnitude of external force systematically. When the total energies in wave fields are small, the energy spectra are close to a statistically steady solution of the kinetic equation in the weak turbulence theory. On the other hand, in large-energy wave fields, another self-similar spectrum is found. The coexistence of the weakly nonlinear spectrum in large wave numbers and the strongly nonlinear spectrum in small wave numbers is also found in moderate energy wave fields.

We consider a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice of metallic nanoparticles, each supporting a localized surface plasmon, and study the quantum properties of the collective plasmons resulting from the near-field dipolar interaction between the nanoparticles. We analytically investigate the dispersion, the effective Hamiltonian, and the eigenstates of the collective plasmons for an arbitrary orientation of the individual dipole moments. When the polarization points close to the normal to the plane, the spectrum presents Dirac cones, similar to those present in the electronic band structure of graphene. We derive the effective Dirac Hamiltonian for the collective plasmons and show that the corresponding spinor eigenstates represent Dirac-like massless bosonic excitations that present similar effects to electrons in graphene, such as a nontrivial Berry phase and the absence of backscattering off smooth inhomogeneities. We further discuss how one can manipulate the Dirac points in the Brillouin zone and open a gap in the collective plasmon dispersion by modifying the polarization of the localized surface plasmons, paving the way for a fully tunable plasmonic analogue of graphene.

We perform a systematic quantum Monte Carlo study of the pairing correlation in the $S_4$ symmetric microscopic model for iron-based superconductors. It is found that the pairing with an extensive $s$-wave symmetry robustly dominates over other pairings at low temperature in a reasonable parameter region regardless of the change of Fermi surface topologies. The pairing susceptibility, the effective pairing interaction, and the ($\pi$, 0) antiferromagnetic correlation strongly increase as the on-site Coulomb interaction increases, indicating the importance of the effect of electron-electron correlation. Our nonbiased numerical results provide a unified understanding of the superconducting mechanism in iron pnictides and iron chalcogenides and demonstrate that the superconductivity is driven by strong electron-electron correlation effects.

We observe an enormous spontaneous exchange bias ($\sim 300–600\mathrm{Oe}$)—measured in an unmagnetized state following zero-field cooling—in a nanocomposite of ${\mathrm{BiFeO}}_3$ ($\sim 94\%$)-${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Fe}}_4{\mathrm{O}}_9$ ($\sim 6\%$) over a temperature range 5–300 K. Depending on the path followed in tracing the hysteresis loop—positive ($p$) or negative ($n$)—as well as the maximum field applied, the exchange bias ($H_E$) varies significantly with $\mid -H_{Ep}\mid >\mid H_{En}\mid$. The temperature dependence of $H_E$ is nonmonotonic. It increases, initially, till $\sim 150\mathrm{K}$ and then decreases as the blocking temperature $T_B$ is approached. All these rich features appear to be originating from the spontaneous symmetry breaking and consequent onset of unidirectional anisotropy driven by “superinteraction bias coupling” between the ferromagnetic core of ${\mathrm{Bi}}_2{\mathrm{Fe}}_4{\mathrm{O}}_9$ (of average size $\sim 19\mathrm{nm}$) and the canted antiferromagnetic structure of ${\mathrm{BiFeO}}_3$ (of average size $\sim 112\mathrm{nm}$) via superspin glass moments at the shell.

The emergent gauge field characteristic of the Coulomb phase of spin ice betrays its existence via pinch points in the spin structure factor $\mathcal{S}$ in reciprocal space which takes the form of a transverse projector $\mathcal{P}$ at low temperature: $\mathcal{S}(q)\sim \mathcal{P}\sim q_{\perp }^2/q^2$. We develop a theory which establishes the fate of the pinch points at low and high temperature, for hard and soft spins, for short- and long-ranged (dipolar) interactions, as well as in the presence of disorder. We find that their detailed shape can be used to read off the relative sizes of entropic and magnetic Coulomb interactions of monopoles in spin ice, and we resolve the question of why pinch points have been experimentally observed for ${\mathrm{Ho}}_{1.7}{\mathrm{Y}}_{0.3}{\mathrm{Ti}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_7$ even at high temperature in the presence of strong disorder.

The nontrivial electronic topology of a topological insulator is thus far known to display signatures in a robust metallic state at the surface. Here, we establish vibrational anomalies in Raman spectra of the bulk that signify changes in electronic topology: an $E_g^2$ phonon softens unusually and its linewidth exhibits an asymmetric peak at the pressure induced electronic topological transition (ETT) in ${\mathrm{Sb}}_2{\mathrm{Se}}_3$ crystal. Our first-principles calculations confirm the electronic transition from band to topological insulating state with reversal of parity of electronic bands passing through a metallic state at the ETT, but do not capture the phonon anomalies which involve breakdown of adiabatic approximation due to strongly coupled dynamics of phonons and electrons. Treating this within a four-band model of topological insulators, we elucidate how nonadiabatic renormalization of phonons constitutes readily measurable bulk signatures of an ETT, which will facilitate efforts to develop topological insulators by modifying a band insulator.

We investigate the electric manipulation of a single-electron spin in a single gate-defined quantum dot. We observe that so-far neglected differences between the hyperfine- and spin-orbit-mediated electric dipole spin resonance conditions have important consequences at high magnetic fields. In experiments using adiabatic rapid passage to invert the electron spin, we observe an unusually wide and asymmetric response as a function of the magnetic field. Simulations support the interpretation of the line shape in terms of four different resonance conditions. These findings may lead to isotope-selective control of dynamic nuclear polarization in quantum dots.

The distribution of red blood cells (RBCs) in a confined channel flow is inhomogeneous and shows a marked depletion near the walls due to a competition between migration away from the walls and shear-induced diffusion resulting from interactions between particles. We investigated the lift of RBCs in a shear flow near a wall and measured a significant lift velocity despite the tumbling motion of cells. We also provide values for the collective and anisotropic shear-induced diffusion of a cloud of RBCs, both in the direction of shear and in the direction of vorticity. A generic down-gradient subdiffusion characterized by an exponent $1/3$ is highlighted.

The mechanical force-induced activation of the adhesive protein von Willebrand factor (VWF), which experiences high hydrodynamic forces, is essential in initiating platelet adhesion. The importance of the mechanical force-induced functional change is manifested in the multimeric VWF’s crucial role in blood coagulation, when high fluid shear stress activates plasma VWF (PVWF) multimers to bind platelets. Here, we showed that a pathological level of high shear stress exposure of PVWF multimers results in domain conformational changes, and the subsequent shifts in the unfolding force allow us to use force as a marker to track the dynamic states of the multimeric VWF. We found that shear-activated PVWF multimers are more resistant to mechanical unfolding than nonsheared PVWF multimers, as indicated in the higher peak unfolding force. These results provide insight into the mechanism of shear-induced activation of PVWF multimers.

While disease propagation is a main focus of network science, its coevolution with treatment has yet to be studied in this framework. We present a mean-field and stochastic analysis of an epidemic model with antiviral administration and resistance development. We show how this model maps to a coevolutive competition between site and bond percolation featuring hysteresis and both second- and first-order phase transitions. The latter, whose existence on networks is a long-standing question, imply that a microscopic change in infection rate can lead to macroscopic jumps in expected epidemic size.

Adaptive resolution schemes allow the simulation of a molecular fluid treating simultaneously different subregions of the system at different levels of resolution. In this work we present a new scheme formulated in terms of a global Hamiltonian. Within this approach equilibrium states corresponding to well-defined statistical ensembles can be generated making use of all standard molecular dynamics or Monte Carlo methods. Models at different resolutions can thus be coupled, and thermodynamic equilibrium can be modulated keeping each region at desired pressure or density without disrupting the Hamiltonian framework.

The flow behavior of polymeric liquids can be traced back to the complex conformational dynamics of polymer molecules in shear flow, which poses a major challenge to theory and experiment alike due to the inherently large number of degrees of freedom. Here we directly determine the configurational dynamics of individual actin filaments with varying lengths in a well defined shear geometry by combining microscopy, microfluidics, and a semiautomated moving stage. This allows the identification of the microscopic mechanisms and the derivation of an analytical model for the dynamics of individual filaments based on the balance of drag, bending, and stochastic forces.