High-frequency gravitational waves (HFGWs) carry a wealth of information on the early Universe with a tiny comoving horizon and astronomical objects of small scale but with dense energy. We demonstrate that the nearby planets, such as Earth and Jupiter, can be utilized as a laboratory for detecting the HFGWs. These GWs are then expected to convert to signal photons in the planetary magnetosphere, across the frequency band of astronomical observation. As a proof of concept, we present the first limits from the existing low-Earth-orbit satellite for specific frequency bands and project the sensitivities for the future more-dedicated detections. The first limits from Juno, the latest mission orbiting Jupiter, are also presented. Attributed to the long path of effective GW-photon conversion and the wide angular distribution of signal flux, we find that these limits are highly encouraging, for a broad frequency range including a large portion unexplored before.

An amplitude analysis of the $B^0\to K^{*0}{\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$ decay is presented using a dataset corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $4.7{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$ of $pp$ collision data collected with the LHCb experiment. For the first time, the coefficients associated to short-distance physics effects, sensitive to processes beyond the standard model, are extracted directly from the data through a $q^2$-unbinned amplitude analysis, where $q^2$ is the ${\mu }^{+}{\mu }^{-}$ invariant mass squared. Long-distance contributions, which originate from nonfactorizable QCD processes, are systematically investigated, and the most accurate assessment to date of their impact on the physical observables is obtained. The pattern of measured corrections to the short-distance couplings is found to be consistent with previous analyses of $b$- to $s$-quark transitions, with the largest discrepancy from the standard model predictions found to be at the level of 1.8 standard deviations. The global significance of the observed differences in the decay is 1.4 standard deviations.

This Letter presents the first study of Higgs boson production in association with a vector boson ($V=W$ or $Z$) in the fully hadronic $qqbb$ final state using data recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton-proton collisions at $\sqrt{s}=13\mathrm{TeV}$ and corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $137{\mathrm{fb}}^{-1}$. The vector bosons and Higgs bosons are each reconstructed as large-radius jets and tagged using jet substructure techniques. Dedicated tagging algorithms exploiting $b$-tagging properties are used to identify jets consistent with Higgs bosons decaying into $b\overline{b}$. Dominant backgrounds from multijet production are determined directly from the data, and a likelihood fit to the jet mass distribution of Higgs boson candidates is used to extract the number of signal events. The $VH$ production cross section is measured inclusively and differentially in several ranges of Higgs boson transverse momentum: 250–450, 450–650, and greater than 650 GeV. The inclusive signal yield relative to the standard model expectation is observed to be $\mu ={1.4}_{-0.9}^{+1.0}$ and the corresponding cross section is $3.1\pm 1.3(\mathrm{stat}{)}_{-1.4}^{+1.8}(\mathrm{syst})\mathrm{pb}$.

We propose a new way of understanding how chiral symmetry is realized in the high temperature phase of QCD. Based on the finding that a simple free instanton gas precisely describes the details of the lowest part of the spectrum of the lattice overlap Dirac operator, we propose an instanton-based random matrix model of QCD with dynamical quarks. Simulations of this model reveal that even for small quark mass the Dirac spectral density has a singularity at the origin, caused by a dilute gas of free instantons. Even though the interaction, mediated by light dynamical quarks, creates small instanton–anti-instanton molecules, those do not influence the singular part of the spectrum, and this singular part is shown to dominate Banks-Casher type sums in the chiral limit. By generalizing the Banks-Casher formula for the singular spectrum, we show that in the chiral limit the chiral condensate vanishes if there are at least two massless flavors. Our model also indicates a possible way of resolving a long-standing debate, as it suggests that for two massless quark flavors the $U(1{)}_{\mathrm{A}}$ symmetry is likely to remain broken up to arbitrarily high finite temperatures.

We implement coherent delocalization as a tool for improving the two primary metrics of atomic clock performance: systematic uncertainty and instability. By decreasing atomic density with coherent delocalization, we suppress cold-collision shifts and two-body losses. Atom loss attributed to Landau-Zener tunneling in the ground lattice band would compromise coherent delocalization at low trap depths for our ${}^{171}\mathrm{Yb}$ atoms; hence, we implement for the first time delocalization in excited lattice bands. Doing so increases the spatial distribution of atoms trapped in the vertically oriented optical lattice by $\sim 7$ times. At the same time, we observe a reduction of the cold-collision shift by 6.5(8) times, while also making inelastic two-body loss negligible. With these advantages, we measure the trap-light-induced quenching rate and natural lifetime of the ${{}^{3}P}_0$ excited state as $5.7(7)\times {10}^{-4}{E}_r^{-1}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}$ and 19(2) s, respectively.

We resolve the unexpected and long-standing disagreement between experiment and theory in the Efimovian three-body spectrum of ${}^7\mathrm{Li}$, commonly referred to as the lithium few-body puzzle. Our results show that the discrepancy arises out of the presence of strong nonuniversal three-body spin-exchange interactions, which enact an effective inflation of the universal Efimov spectrum. This conclusion is obtained from a thorough numerical solution of the quantum mechanical three-body problem, including precise interatomic interactions and all spin degrees of freedom for three alkali-metal atoms. Our results show excellent agreement with the experimental data regarding both the Efimov spectrum and the absolute rate constants of three-body recombination, and in addition reveal a general product propensity for such triatomic reactions in the Paschen-Back regime, stemming from Wigner’s spin conservation rule.

We investigate theoretically and numerically the dynamics of long-living oscillating coherent structures—bi-solitons—in the exact and approximate models for waves on the free surface of deep water. We generate numerically the bi-solitons of the approximate Dyachenko-Zakharov equation and fully nonlinear equations propagating without significant loss of energy for hundreds of the structure oscillation periods, which is hundreds of thousands of characteristic periods of the surface waves. To elucidate the long-living bi-soliton complex nature we apply an analytical-numerical approach based on the perturbation theory and the inverse scattering transform (IST) for the one-dimensional focusing nonlinear Schrödinger equation model. We observe a periodic energy and momentum exchange between solitons and continuous spectrum radiation resulting in repetitive oscillations of the coherent structure. We find that soliton eigenvalues oscillate on stable trajectories experiencing a slight drift on a scale of hundreds of the structure oscillation periods so that the eigenvalue dynamics is in good agreement with predictions of the IST perturbation theory. Based on the obtained results, we conclude that the IST perturbation theory justifies the existence of the long-living bi-solitons on the surface of deep water that emerge as a result of a balance between their dominant solitonic part and a portion of continuous spectrum radiation.

We report observations of nonlinear two-plasmon decay instabilities (TPDIs) of a high-power microwave beam, a process similar to half-harmonic generation in optics, during electron cyclotron resonance heating in a tokamak. TPDIs are found to occur regularly in the plasma edge due to wave trapping in density fluctuations for various confinement modes, and the frequencies of both observed daughter waves agree with modeling. Emissions from a cascade of subsequent decays, which indicate a generation of ion Bernstein waves, are correlated with fast-ion generation. This emphasizes the limitations of standard linear microwave propagation models and possibly paves the way for novel microwave applications in plasmas.

A striking feature of non-Hermitian systems is the presence of two different types of topology. One generalizes Hermitian topological phases, and the other is intrinsic to non-Hermitian systems, which are called line-gap topology and point-gap topology, respectively. Whereas the bulk-boundary correspondence is a fundamental principle in the former topology, its role in the latter has not been clear yet. This Letter establishes the bulk-boundary correspondence in the point-gap topology in non-Hermitian systems. After revealing the requirement for point-gap topology in the open boundary conditions, we clarify that the bulk point-gap topology in open boundary conditions can be different from that in periodic boundary conditions. On the basis of real space topological invariants and the $K$ theory, we give a complete classification of the open boundary point-gap topology with symmetry and show that the nontrivial open boundary topology results in robust and exotic surface states.

The need for structuring on micrometer scales is abundant, for example, in view of phononic applications. We here outline a novel approach based on the phenomenon of active turbulence on the mesoscale. As we demonstrate, a shear-thickening carrier fluid of active microswimmers intrinsically stabilizes regular vortex patterns of otherwise turbulent active suspensions. The fluid self-organizes into a periodically structured nonequilibrium state. Introducing additional passive particles of intermediate size leads to regular spatial organization of these objects. Our approach opens a new path toward functionalization through patterning of thin films and membranes.

Quantum computing requires a universal set of gate operations; regarding gates as rotations, any rotation angle must be possible. However a real device may only be capable of $B$ bits of resolution, i.e., it might support only $2^B$ possible variants of a given physical gate. Naive discretization of an algorithm’s gates to the nearest available options causes coherent errors, while decomposing an impermissible gate into several allowed operations increases circuit depth. Conversely, demanding higher $B$ can greatly complexify hardware. Here, we explore an alternative: probabilistic angle interpolation (PAI). This effectively implements any desired, continuously parametrized rotation by randomly choosing one of three discretized gate settings and postprocessing individual circuit outputs. The approach is particularly relevant for near-term applications where one would in any case average over many runs of circuit executions to estimate expected values. While PAI increases that sampling cost, we prove that (a) the approach is optimal in the sense that PAI achieves the least possible overhead and (b) the overhead is remarkably modest even with thousands of parametrized gates and only seven bits of resolution available. This is a profound relaxation of engineering requirements for first generation quantum computers where even 5–6 bits of resolution may suffice and, as we demonstrate, the approach is many orders of magnitude more efficient than prior techniques. Moreover we conclude that, even for more mature late noisy intermediate-scale quantum era hardware, no more than nine bits will be necessary.

We find an intriguing relation between a class of three-dimensional nonunitary topological field theories (TFTs) and Virasoro minimal models $M(2,2r+3)$ with $r\ge 1$. The TFTs are constructed by topologically twisting 3D $\mathcal{N}=4$ superconformal field theories (SCFTs) of rank-0, i.e., having zero-dimensional Coulomb and Higgs branches. We present ultraviolet (UV) field theory descriptions of the SCFTs with manifest $\mathcal{N}=2$ supersymmetry, which we argue is enhanced to $\mathcal{N}=4$ in the infrared. From the UV description, we compute various partition functions of the TFTs and reproduce some basic properties of the minimal models, such as their characters and modular matrices. We expect more general correspondence between topologically twisted 3d $\mathcal{N}=4$ rank-0 SCFTs and 2D nonunitary rational conformal field theories.

Interacting fermionic ladders are versatile platforms to study quantum phases of matter, such as different types of Mott insulators. In particular, there are D-Mott and S-Mott states that hold preformed fermion pairs and become paired-fermion liquids upon doping ($d$ wave and $s$ wave, respectively). We show that the D-Mott and S-Mott phases are in fact two facets of the same topological phase and that the transition between them is terminable. These results provide a quantum analog of the well-known terminable liquid-to-gas transition. However, the phenomenology we uncover is even richer, as the order of the transition may alternate between continuous and first order, depending on the interaction details. Most importantly, the terminable transition is robust in the sense that it is guaranteed to appear for weak, but arbitrary couplings. We discuss a minimal model where some analytical insights can be obtained, a generic model where the effect persists; and a model-independent field-theoretical study demonstrating the general phenomenon. The role of symmetry and the edge states is briefly discussed. The numerical results are obtained using the variational uniform matrix-product state (VUMPS) formalism for infinite systems, as well as the density-matrix renormalization group (DMRG) algorithm for finite systems.

A conventionally defined free-energy landscape (FEL) exhibits unphysical dependence on the choice of reaction coordinates and hence lacks universal predictive ability. We here show that three physically plausible requirements uniquely determine the FEL formula for a given reaction coordinate. Our FEL is expressed solely in terms of quantities obtained through time-series data analysis, namely, the probability distribution and the diffusion matrix. It is free from any unphysical coordinate dependence and coincides with the conventional FEL in special cases. The uniqueness and robustness of the formula strongly suggest that our FEL has universal predictive power.

Protein folding is a fundamental process critical to cellular function and human health, but it remains a grand challenge in biophysics. Hydrodynamic interaction (HI) plays a vital role in the self-organization of soft and biological materials, yet its role in protein folding is not fully understood despite folding occurring in a fluid environment. Here, we use the fluid particle dynamics method to investigate many-body hydrodynamic couplings between amino acid residues and fluid motion in the folding kinetics of a coarse-grained four-$\alpha$-helices bundle protein. Our results reveal that HI helps select fast folding pathways to the native state without being kinetically trapped, significantly speeding up the folding kinetics compared to its absence. First, the directional flow along the protein backbone expedites protein collapse. Then, the incompressibility-induced squeezing flow effects retard the accumulation of non-native hydrophobic contacts, thus preventing the protein from being trapped in local energy minima during the conformational search of the native structure. We also find that the significance of HI in folding kinetics depends on temperature, with a pronounced effect under biologically relevant conditions. Our findings suggest that HI, particularly the short-range squeezing effect, may be crucial in avoiding protein misfolding.