We introduce and explore a Kerr soliton Ising machine with all-to-all connectivity and up to tripartite (cubic) interactions, unlocking efficient approaches for combinatorial optimization. The machine is an ensemble of solitons in a Kerr resonator, where a programmable optoelectronic feedback circuit generates amplitude mixing terms involving up to three arbitrary soliton spins in the system Hamiltonian. This capability offers a key advantage for solving canonical NP-complete problems like Boolean satisfiability (SAT) with three literal clauses, substantially reducing the spin overhead compared to quadratic-only Ising mappings. To explore our cubic Ising machine, we solve randomly generated 3-SAT instances of 250 variables and 1000 clauses, approaching the intrinsic satisfiability threshold. Our results highlight Kerr solitons as a flexible and energy-efficient analog computing substrate, with the potential to address challenges in combinatorial optimization, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.

We investigate how noise impacts nonstabilizerness—a key resource for quantum advantage—in many-body qubit systems. While noise typically degrades quantum resources, we show that amplitude damping, a nonunital channel, can generate or enhance nonstabilizerness, whereas depolarizing noise provably cannot. In an encoding-decoding protocol, we find that, unlike in the coherent-noise case, a sharp decoding fidelity transition is not accompanied by a transition in nonstabilizerness. Although amplitude damping locally injects nonstabilizerness, this resource is washed out at the collective level after encoding, decoding, and postselection. Our results reveal that realistic incoherent noise can suppress many-body nonstabilizerness criticality even while generating it microscopically.

We introduce a versatile method for preparing a quantum state whose amplitudes are given by some known function. Unlike existing approaches, our method does not require handcrafted reversible arithmetic circuits, or quantum table reads, to encode the function values. Instead, we use a template quantum eigenvalue transformation circuit to convert a low-cost block encoding of the sine function into the desired function. Our method uses only four ancilla qubits (three if the approximating polynomial has definite parity), providing order-of-magnitude qubit count reductions compared to state-of-the-art approaches, while using a similar number of gates if the function can be well represented by a polynomial or Fourier approximation. We demonstrate the algorithmic utility of our method, including preparing Gaussian and Kaiser window states.

We propose a novel strategy and a new class of detectors for the direct detection of axion dark matter in the meV mass range, based on resonantly enhanced axion-photon conversion through the inverse Primakoff effect in engineered radiometers composed of quantum semiconductor heterostructures. Semiconductor-Quantum-Well Axion Radiometer Experiments (SQWAREs) are multiple quantum well structures forming magnetoplasmonic cavities, containing high-mobility two-dimensional electron gases, realizing tunable epsilon-near-zero resonances in the terahertz frequency range. By controlling the orientation of the cavity within a strong external magnetic field, both the resonance frequency and the axion-induced current are optimized in situ, enabling efficient scanning across a broad mass range without the need for complex mechanical adjustments. The axion-induced electromagnetic signal radiatively emitted from the cavity is then detected by a photodetector. We present the theoretical basis for resonant enhancement, detail the experimental design and benchmarks through extensive simulations, project the sensitivity of an example SQWARE for several realistic configurations, and demonstrate the modularity and flexibility of the design to fit reasonably with any lab’s existing capabilities and target unique axion mass ranges. Our results demonstrate that the SQWAREs can probe the well-motivated quantum chromodynamics axion parameter space and close a critical gap in direct searches at meV masses.

We compute for the first time baryon number violation at zero temperature from Higgs bubble collisions and find that it can be of the same order as that from thermal sphalerons in the symmetric phase at electroweak temperatures. We study the dependence of the rate of Chern-Simons number transitions on the shape of the scalar potential and on the Lorentz factor of the bubble walls at collision via large-scale $(3+1)\mathrm{D}$ lattice simulations of the Higgs doublet and $SU(2)$ gauge fields. We estimate the resulting baryon asymmetry assuming some $CP$-violating source activated by the Higgs-field variation during the phase transition.

Precise experimental information on hyperon-nucleon interactions is scarce but of paramount importance to our understanding of the inner structure of compact stars. In this Letter, we report the first experimental results of correlation functions between deuterons ($d$) and $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ hyperons in $\mathrm{Au}+\mathrm{Au}$ collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=3.0\mathrm{GeV}$ measured by the STAR experiment at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. A clear enhancement at small relative momenta has been observed in the correlation function. Through a Bayesian inference analysis, the source size parameters as a function of collision centrality and the spin-dependent strong interaction parameters (scattering length $f_0$ and effective range $d_0$) are extracted using the Lednický-Lyuboshitz formalism. The derived doublet spin state parameters ($f_0$, $d_0$) lead to a novel method to precisely determine $\mathrm{\Lambda }$ separation energy for the weakly bounded hypertriton ${}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^3\mathrm{H}$.

We report the observation of spin-singlet ultralong-range Rydberg butterfly molecules consisting of a ground-state atom bound to a Rydberg atom by $P$-wave scattering of ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$ Rydberg electrons from ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}(5\mathrm{s})$ atoms. A three-photon excitation scheme enables the photoassociation of these molecules by weakly admixing $\mathrm{Rb}(18f_{7/2})$ states. The measured binding energies, kilo-Debye permanent electric dipole moments, and lifetimes are in excellent agreement with theory. Two long-lived vibrational levels, red detuned from the $\mathrm{Rb}(18f_{7/2})$ threshold, are observed. This experiment is a foundational step in the production of ultracold anions and heavy Rydberg ion-pair systems.

We introduce a generalized Gross-Pitaevskii equation that provides a nonlinear framework for studying 2D attractive Bose systems. Its defining feature is the logarithmic density dependence of the coupling constant, which breaks the scale invariance inherent in the standard mean-field equations. This framework allows straightforward calculations of the system properties arising from the quantum anomaly. As a first illustration, we study universal bound states in free space, commonly referred to as quantum droplets. Then, we analyze breathing modes and quench dynamics in trapped systems, paving the way for a systematic exploration of nonequilibrium phenomena in 2D attractive Bose systems. Finally, we predict the existence of universal excited states, including vortex configurations, which may be more accessible to experimental investigation than the ground state. Our results provide a robust theoretical foundation for studying both static and dynamical properties of finite systems, and offer guidance for the design of future experiments.

Subwavelength atomic arrays are a leading platform for engineering strong light-matter interactions, presenting exciting opportunities for quantum science. However, a full understanding of their multiexcitation dynamics remains a significant challenge. In this Letter, we uncover a remarkable universal phenomenon that emerges in these arrays. Using scattering theory to analyze two-excitation interactions, we reveal a profound simplification near critical points of the collective atomic excitation band structure, determined solely from single-excitation properties. At these critical points, which emerge as band edges and saddle points (Van Hove singularities) in the two-excitation phase space, scattering becomes universal and the full two-excitation scattering matrix decomposes into a block-diagonal form. Remarkably, all scattering processes involving the photon field are completely suppressed, resulting in the perfect isolation of a unitary, nonlinear interaction channel between collective dark spin waves. Our findings provide exact analytical insights into few-body nonlinearities and establish a universal framework for analyzing complex scattering phenomena in ordered atomic systems.

We adapt the microcanonical framework of equilibrium statistical mechanics to predict the statistics of short linear waves in inhomogeneous moving media. For steady inhomogeneities and background flow, we compute the wave spectrum at any location in the domain based on an ergodic prescription for the action density in phase space, constrained by conservation of absolute frequency. We illustrate the method for shallow-water waves subject to a background flow or to topographic inhomogeneities, and for deep-water surface capillary waves over a background flow, validating the predicted maps of root-mean-square surface elevation and interfacial slope against numerical simulations.

The robust diagnosis of conditions generated in warm dense matter experiments remains a persistent challenge. Here, we describe the measurement of shock-compressed aluminium at 50 GPa with angle-resolved femtosecond x-ray Thomson scattering (XRTS) over a wide range of scattering wave vectors at the European X-Ray Free-Electron Laser. The measured plasmon dispersion and line shape show that the de facto standard approach for analyzing XRTS spectra, using uniform-electron-gas models, systematically overestimates the resonance energy by up to 8 eV. We present an approach using ab initio methods that agrees within the experimental uncertainty and demonstrates how accounting for shock-induced disorder in shock-compressed systems is critical for their understanding, providing evidence that ab initio treatments are required for reliable XRTS inference in warm dense aluminium.

We propose three transition-metal adatom systems on SiC surfaces as a versatile platform to realize massless Dirac fermions and flat bands with strong electronic correlations. Using density functional theory combined with the constrained random phase approximation and dynamical mean-field theory, we investigate the electronic properties of Ti, V, and Cr adatoms. The triangular surface lattices exhibit narrow bandwidths and effective two-band Hubbard models near the Fermi level, originating from partially filled adatom $d$ orbitals. For the undoped systems our calculations reveal two distinct Mott insulating ground states. While the V lattice is a paramagnetic textbook case with large local moments, the Cr lattice, in contrast, is on the edge of a phase transition toward a flat-band Fermi liquid. The Ti lattice realizes a heavy Dirac semimetal at zero doping.

Superconductivity and Bloch band Berry curvature responses represent two distinct paradigms of quantum coherent phenomena. The former relies on the collective motion of Cooper pairs while the latter proceeds from the momentum-space winding of Bloch wave functions. Here, we reveal a superconducting Berry curvature dipole (BCD) that arises as a collective phenomenon in noncentrosymmetric superconductors. Strikingly, we find the superconducting BCD is sensitive to the phase of the order parameter and depends on the noncentrosymmetric structure of its pairing. This unusual property enables a BCD proximity effect in hybrid quantum materials that induces nonreciprocity even in a target centrosymmetric metal. We find a superconducting BCD naturally produces nonreciprocal electromagnetic responses that include dissipationless supercurrent-induced dynamical Hall conductivity as well as a giant second-order nonlinearity. This renders noncentrosymmetric superconductors an exciting platform for realizing unconventional dissipationless responses and their BCD responses a novel diagnostic of the structure of the superconducting gap.

First passage phenomena arise across physics, biology, and finance when stochastic processes first reach a threshold, triggering downstream events. Examples include the irreversible exit from a domain, a biochemical reaction, and a financial selloff. While typical formulations involve diffusive motion, many stochastic processes are better described as velocity jump processes, characterized by persistent motion interrupted by stochastic velocity changes. Despite their ubiquity, first passage properties of velocity jump processes remain underdeveloped in higher dimensions, especially under directional bias. We present a general framework to estimate the mean first passage time (MFPT) and higher moments of the survival probability for fixed-speed velocity jump processes where possible reorientations range from strong alignment to full angular anisotropy. For low Knudsen numbers, when the mean free path is small compared to the distance to the target, we derive a universal form for the MFPT in which two bias functions encode broad classes of angular distributions, including von Mises-Fisher, wrapped Cauchy, and elliptical families. In the narrow-capture limit of a vanishingly small target, directional persistence induces anomalous scaling, including regimes where the MFPT remains finite whereas standard diffusion would predict divergence. Finally, we obtain a Langevin representation that accurately reproduces first passage statistics. Analytical predictions are confirmed by numerical simulations.

We study the overdamped dynamic spreading of a suspension of particles under a repulsive power law potential. We predict that the suspension spreads in a self-similar form, with its radius growing in time with a power independent of the dimension. We confirm this prediction experimentally using magnetized colloids with dipolar repulsion. Numerical simulations corroborate the experiments and further predict a categorically different behavior at a critical power, below which the initial distribution is no longer concentrated at the origin. Instead, particles accumulate at the perimeter and retain a long-lived memory of their original pattern. Below this threshold, the initial distribution seeds the resulting pattern, encoding the future structure of a dynamically evolving system.