The lattice thermal conductivity (${\kappa }_{\mathrm{lat}}$) of ${\mathrm{MgSiO}}_3$ perovskite (Mg-Pv) under high-pressure and high-temperature conditions was computed based on the ab initio anharmonic lattice dynamics method with the density functional perturbation theory. ${\kappa }_{\mathrm{lat}}$ of Mg-Pv is found to increase with increasing pressure from 9.8 (at 23.5 GPa) to $43.6{\mathrm{W}\mathrm{m}}^{-1}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ (at 136 GPa) at 300 K, while decreasing with increasing temperature from 28.1 (at 300 K) to $2.3{\mathrm{W}\mathrm{m}}^{-1}{\mathrm{K}}^{-1}$ (at 4000 K) at 100 GPa. A multiphase composite average yielded a mantle Rayleigh number adequate to promote the vigorous thermal convection of the mantle that is expected geophysically.

Silicene (a monolayer of silicon atoms) is a two-dimensional topological insulator (TI) that undergoes a topological phase transition to a band insulator under external electric field $E_z$. We investigate a photoinduced topological phase transition from a TI to another TI by changing its topological class by irradiating circular polarized light at fixed $E_z$. The band structure is modified by photon dressing with a new dispersion, where the topological property is altered. By increasing the intensity of light at $E_z=0$, a photoinduced quantum Hall insulator is realized. Its edge modes are anisotropic chiral, in which the velocities of up and down spins are different. At $E_z>E_{\mathrm{cr}}$ with a certain critical field $E_{\mathrm{cr}}$, a photoinduced spin-polarized quantum Hall insulator emerges. This is a new state of matter, possessing one Chern number and one-half spin-Chern numbers. We newly discover a single Dirac-cone state along a phase boundary. A distinctive hallmark of the state is that one of the two Dirac valleys is closed and the other open.

We study quantum-well-confined holes based on the Luttinger-model description for the valence band of typical semiconductor materials. Even when only the lowest quasi-two-dimensional (quasi-2D) subband is populated, the static spin susceptibility turns out to be very different from the universal isotropic Lindhard-function line shape obtained for 2D conduction-electron systems. The strongly anisotropic and peculiarly density-dependent spin-related response of 2D holes at long wavelengths should make it possible to switch between easy-axis and easy-plane magnetization in dilute magnetic quantum wells. An effective $g$ factor for 2D hole systems is proposed.

We investigate nonlinear transport properties of quantum conductors in response to both electrical and thermal driving forces. Within the scattering approach, we determine the nonequilibrium screening potential of a generic mesoscopic system and find that its response is dictated by particle and entropic injectivities which describe the charge and entropy transfer during transport. We illustrate our model analyzing the voltage and thermal rectification of a resonant tunneling barrier. Importantly, we discuss interaction induced contributions to the thermopower in the presence of large temperature differences.

The structure of a proximity induced vortex core in a two-dimensional metallic layer covering a superconducting half-space is calculated. We predict the formation of a multiple vortex core characterized by two-scale behavior of the local density of states. For coherent tunneling between the two-dimensional layer and the bulk superconductor, the spectrum has two subgap branches while for incoherent tunneling only one of them remains. The resulting splitting of the zero-bias anomaly and the multiple peak structure in the local density of states should be visible in the tunneling spectroscopy experiments.

We investigate the magnetic coupling of Ni centers embedded in two-dimensional metal-coordination networks self-assembled from 7,7,8,8-tetracyanoquinodimethane (TCNQ) molecules on Ag(100) and Au(111) surfaces. X-ray magnetic circular dichroism measurements show that single Ni adatom impurities assume a spin-quenched configuration on both surfaces, while Ni atoms coordinating to TCNQ ligands recover their magnetic moment and exhibit ferromagnetic coupling. The valence state and the ferromagnetic coupling strength of the Ni coordination centers depend crucially on the underlying substrate due to the different charge state of the TCNQ ligands on the two surfaces. The results suggest a superexchange coupling mechanism via the TCNQ ligands.

We show that there exists an Efimov-like three strand DNA bound state at the duplex melting point and it is described by a renormalization group limit cycle. A nonperturbative renormalization group is used to obtain this result in a model involving short range pairing only. Our results suggest that Efimov physics can be tested in polymeric systems.

The effect of dynamic arm exchange on the crystallization and the jamming of multiarm starlike polymers was studied using small angle x-ray scattering and rheology. Poly(ethylene oxide) end capped with a small hydrophobic chain formed spherical micelles in water. Dynamic arm exchange allowed rapid crystallization and caused a discontinuous liquid-solid transition in dense suspensions after cooling. It is shown here that this is caused by spontaneous fine-tuning of the number of arms per micelle ($f$). Elimination of arm exchange by in situ photo-cross-linking of the core did not influence the behavior when $f$ was at the optimum value. However, suboptimal values of $f$ inhibited crystallization and the liquid-solid transition.

Colloidal particles suspended in a fluid usually inhibit complete wetting of the fluid on a solid surface and cause pinning of the contact line, known as self-pinning. We show differences in spreading and drying behaviors of pure and colloidal droplets using optical and confocal imaging methods. These differences come from spreading inhibition by colloids confined at a contact line. We propose a self-pinning mechanism based on spreading inhibition by colloids. We find a good agreement between the mechanism and the experimental result taken by directly tracking individual colloids near the contact lines of evaporating colloidal droplets.

We predict a universal midgap bound state in topological superfluids, induced by either nonmagnetic or magnetic impurities in the strong scattering limit. This universal state is similar to the lowest-energy Caroli–de Gennes–Martricon bound state in a vortex core, but is bound to localized impurities. We argue that the observation of such a universal bound state can be a clear signature for identifying topological superfluids. We theoretically examine our argument for a spin-orbit coupled ultracold atomic Fermi gas trapped in a two-dimensional harmonic potential by performing extensive self-consistent calculations within the mean-field Bogoliubov–de Gennes theory. A realistic scenario for observing a universal bound state in ultracold ${}^{40}\mathrm{K}$ atoms is proposed.

We study the ergodic properties of superdiffusive, spatiotemporally coupled Lévy walk processes. For trajectories of finite duration, we reveal a distinct scatter of the scaling exponents of the time averaged mean squared displacement $\overline{\delta x^2}$ around the ensemble value $3-\alpha$ ($1<\alpha <2$) ranging from ballistic motion to subdiffusion, in strong contrast to the behavior of subdiffusive processes. In addition we find a significant dependence of the average of $\overline{\delta x^2}$ over an ensemble of trajectories as a function of the finite measurement time. This so-called finite-time amplitude depression and the scatter of the scaling exponent is vital in the quantitative evaluation of superdiffusive processes. Comparing the long time average of the second moment with the ensemble mean squared displacement, these only differ by a constant factor, an ultraweak ergodicity breaking.

More than half of the volume of our Universe is occupied by cosmic voids. The lensing magnification effect from those underdense regions is generally thought to give a small dimming contribution: objects on the far side of a void are supposed to be observed as slightly smaller than if the void were not there, which together with conservation of surface brightness implies net reduction in photons received. This is predicted by the usual weak lensing integral of the density contrast along the line of sight. We show that this standard effect is swamped at low redshifts by a relativistic Doppler term that is typically neglected. Contrary to the usual expectation, objects on the far side of a void are brighter than they would be otherwise. Thus the local dynamics of matter in and near the void is crucial and is only captured by the full relativistic lensing convergence. There are also significant nonlinear corrections to the relativistic linear theory, which we show actually underpredicts the effect. We use exact solutions to estimate that these can be more than 20% for deep voids. This remains an important source of systematic errors for weak lensing density reconstruction in galaxy surveys and for supernovae observations, and may be the cause of the reported extra scatter of field supernovae located on the edge of voids compared to those in clusters.

The form factors in the radiative decay of $J/\psi$ to a scalar glueball are studied within quenched lattice QCD on anisotropic lattices. The continuum extrapolation is carried out by using two different lattice spacings. With the results of these form factors, the partial width of $J/\psi$ radiatively decaying into the pure gauge scalar glueball is predicted to be 0.35(8) keV, which corresponds to a branching ratio of $3.8(9)\times {10}^{-3}$. By comparing with experiments, out results indicate that $f_0(1710)$ has a larger overlap with the pure gauge glueball than other related scalar mesons.

We present a very simple fourth generation (4G) model with an Abelian gauge interaction under which only the 4G fermions have nonzero charge. The $U(1)$ gauge symmetry can have a ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ residual discrete symmetry (4G parity), which can stabilize the lightest 4G particle (L4P). When the 4G neutrino is the L4P, it would be a neutral and stable particle and the other 4G fermions would decay into the L4P, leaving the trace of missing energy plus the standard model fermions. Because of the new symmetry, the 4G particle creation and decay modes are different from those of the sequential 4G model, and the 4G particles can be appreciably lighter than typical experimental bounds.

We have observed well-defined phase slips between quantized persistent current states around a toroidal atomic (${}^{23}\mathrm{Na}$) Bose-Einstein condensate. These phase slips are induced by a weak link (a localized region of reduced superfluid density) rotated slowly around the ring. This is analogous to the behavior of a superconducting loop with a weak link in the presence of an external magnetic field. When the weak link is rotated more rapidly, well-defined phase slips no longer occur, and vortices enter into the bulk of the condensate. A noteworthy feature of this system is the ability to dynamically vary the current-phase relation of the weak link, a feature which is difficult to implement in superconducting or superfluid helium circuits.

We use numerical modeling to study the flow patterns of an active nematic confined in a cylindrical capillary, considering both planar and homeotropic boundary conditions. We find that active flow emerges not only along the capillary axis but also within the plane of the capillary, where radial vortices are formed. If topological defects are imposed by the boundary conditions, they act as local pumps driving the flow. At higher activity, we demonstrate escape of the active defects and flow into the third dimension, indicating the importance of dimensionality in active materials. We argue that measuring the magnitude of the active flow as a function of the capillary radius allows determination of a value for the activity coefficient.

Inspired by recent studies revealing unexpected pliability of semiflexible biomolecules like RNA and DNA, we systematically investigate the range of structural phases by means of a simple generic polymer model. Using a two-dimensional variant of Wang-Landau sampling to explore the conformational space in energy and stiffness within a single simulation, we identify the entire diversity of structures existing from the well-studied limit of flexible polymers to that of wormlike chains. We also discuss, in detail, the influence of finite-size effects in the formation of crystalline structures that are virtually inaccessible via conventional computational approaches.

Flexibility, or softness, is crucial for protein function and consists of a conformational component, involving jumps between potential wells, and an elastic component, involving fluctuations within the wells. Combining molecular dynamics simulation with incoherent neutron scattering and light scattering measurements on green fluorescent protein, we reveal a relationship between the intrawell fluctuations and elastic moduli of the protein. This finding leads to a simple means of experimentally separating the conformational from the elastic atomic displacements.

Using the Wigner representation, compatibly with the uncertainty principle, we formulate a quantum maximum entropy principle for the fractional exclusion statistics. By considering anyonic systems satisfying fractional exclusion statistic, all the results available in the literature are generalized in terms of both the kind of statistics and a nonlocal description for excluson gases. Gradient quantum corrections are explicitly given at different levels of degeneracy and classical results are recovered when $\hslash \to 0$.

The $M1$ excitations in the nuclide ${}^{90}\mathrm{Zr}$ have been studied in a photon-scattering experiment with monoenergetic and linearly polarized beams from 7 to 11 MeV. More than 40 $J^{\pi }=1^{+}$ states have been identified from observed ground-state transitions, revealing the fine structure of the giant $M1$ resonance with a centroid energy of 9 MeV and a sum strength of 4.17(56) ${\mu }_N^2$. The result for the total $M1$ strength and its fragmentation are discussed in the framework of the three-phonon quasiparticle-phonon model.