Recently achieved two-component dipolar Bose-Einstein condensates open exciting possibilities for the study of mixtures of ultradilute quantum liquids. While nondipolar self-bound (without external confinement) mixtures are necessarily miscible with an approximately fixed ratio between the two densities, the density ratio for the dipolar case is free. Therefore, self-bound dipolar mixtures present qualitatively novel and much richer physics, characterized by three possible ground-state phases: miscible, symmetric immiscible, and asymmetric immiscible, which may in principle occur at any population imbalance. Self-bound immiscible droplets are possible due to mutual nonlocal intercomponent attraction, which results in the formation of a droplet molecule. Moreover, our analysis of the impurity regime shows that quantum fluctuations in the majority component crucially modify the miscibility of impurities. Our work opens intriguing perspectives for the exploration of spinor physics in ultradilute liquids, which should resemble to some extent that of ${}^4\mathrm{He}–{}^3\mathrm{He}$ droplets and impurity-doped helium droplets.

Quantum droplets can emerge in bosonic binary magnetic gases (BMGs) from the interplay of short- and long-ranged interactions, and quantum fluctuations. We develop an extended mean field theory for this system and use it to predict equilibrium and dynamical properties of BMG droplets. We present a phase diagram and characterize miscible and immiscible droplet states. We also show that a single-component self-bound droplet can bind another magnetic component, which is not in the droplet regime, due to the interspecies dipole-dipole interactions. Our results should be realizable in experiments with mixtures of highly magnetic lanthanide atoms.

In magnetic topological insulators, quantized electronic transport is intertwined with spontaneous magnetic ordering, as magnetization controls band gaps, hence band topology, through the exchange interaction. We show that considering the exchange gaps at the mean-field level is inadequate to predict phase transitions between electronic states of distinct topology. Thermal spin fluctuations disturbing the magnetization can act as frozen disorders that strongly scatter electrons, reducing the onset temperature of quantized transport appreciably even in the absence of structural impurities. This effect, which has hitherto been overlooked, provides an alternative explanation of recent experiments on magnetic topological insulators.

We report on the observation of a $T_c\sim 0.9\mathrm{K}$ superconductivity at the interface between ${\mathrm{LaAlO}}_3$ film and the $5d$ transition metal oxide ${\mathrm{KTaO}}_3(110)$ single crystal. The interface shows a large anisotropy of the upper critical field, and its superconducting transition is consistent with a Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition. Both facts suggest that the superconductivity is two-dimensional (2D) in nature. The carrier density measured at 5 K is $\sim 7\times {10}^{13}{\mathrm{cm}}^{-2}$. The superconducting layer thickness and coherence length are estimated to be $\sim 8$ and $\sim 30\mathrm{nm}$, respectively. Our result provides a new platform for the study of 2D superconductivity at oxide interfaces.

The spin absorption process in a ferromagnetic material depends on the spin orientation relative to the magnetization. Using a ferromagnet to absorb the pure spin current created within a lateral spin valve, we evidence and quantify a sizable orientation dependence of the spin absorption in Co, CoFe, and NiFe. These experiments allow us to determine the spin-mixing conductance, an elusive but fundamental parameter of the spin-dependent transport. We show that the obtained values cannot be understood within a model considering only the Larmor, transverse decoherence, and spin diffusion lengths, and rather suggest that the spin-mixing conductance is actually limited by the Sharvin conductance.

Currently, only one shallow acceptor (Mg) has been discovered in GaN. Here, using photoluminescence (PL) measurements combined with hybrid density functional theory, we demonstrate that a shallow effective-mass state also exists for the ${\mathrm{Be}}_{\mathrm{Ga}}$ acceptor. A PL band with a maximum at 3.38 eV reveals a shallow ${\mathrm{Be}}_{\mathrm{Ga}}$ acceptor level at $113\pm 5\mathrm{meV}$ above the valence band, which is the lowest value among any dopants in GaN reported to date. Calculations suggest that the ${\mathrm{Be}}_{\mathrm{Ga}}$ is a dual-nature acceptor with the “bright” shallow state responsible for the 3.38 eV PL band, and the “dark,” strongly localized small polaronic state with a significantly lower hole capture efficiency.

We perform femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy to in situ investigate the ultrafast photocarrier dynamics in bilayer graphene and observe an acceleration of energy relaxation under pressure. In combination with in situ Raman spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, we reveal that interlayer shear and breathing modes have significant contributions to the faster hot-carrier relaxations by coupling with the in-plane vibration modes under pressure. Our work suggests that further understanding the effect of interlayer interaction on the behaviors of electrons and phonons would be critical to tailor the photocarrier dynamic properties of bilayer graphene.

We observe an anomalous liquid expansion after quenching a binary mixture at coexistence to low pressures in the vapor phase by numerical calculations. This evaporation-induced expansion can be attributed to the pressure imbalance near the liquid-vapor interface, which originates from the interplay between the complex thermodynamics of binary mixtures both in the vapor and liquid phases, as well as their dynamical asymmetries. In addition, careful modulation of the pressure quench in the vapor phase can result in spinodal bubble formation inside liquid phase. The results indicate that the thermodynamics-kinetics interplay could foster our fundamental understanding of the evaporation process and promote its practical applications.

The ability to reroute and control flow is vital to the function of venation networks across a wide range of organisms. By modifying individual edges in these networks, either by adjusting edge conductances or creating and destroying edges, organisms robustly control the propagation of inputs to perform specific tasks. However, a fundamental disconnect exists between the structure and function: networks with different local architectures can perform the same functions. Here, we answer the question of how changes at the level of individual edges collectively create functionality at the scale of an entire network. Using persistent homology, we analyze networks tuned to perform complex tasks. We find that the responses of such networks encode a hidden topological structure composed of sectors of nearly uniform pressure. Although these sectors are not apparent in the underlying network structure, they correlate strongly with the tuned function. The connectivity of these sectors, rather than that of individual nodes, provides a quantitative relationship between structure and function in flow networks.

In equilibrium physics, spontaneous symmetry breaking and elementary excitation are two concepts closely related with each other: the symmetry and its spontaneous breaking not only control the dynamics and spectrum of elementary excitations, but also determine their underlying structures. In this Letter, based on an exactly solvable model, we propose a phase ramping protocol to study an excitationlike behavior of a nonequilibrium quantum matter: a discrete time crystal phase with spontaneous temporal translational symmetry breaking. It is shown that slow ramping could induce a dynamical transition between two $Z_2$ symmetry breaking time crystal phases in time domain, which can be considered as a temporal analog of the soliton excitation spatially sandwiched by two degenerate charge density wave states in polyacetylene. By tuning the ramping rate, we observe a critical value at which point the transition duration diverges, resembling the critical slowing down phenomenon in nonequilibrium statistic physics. We also discuss the effect of stochastic sequences of such phase ramping processes and its implication to the stability of the discrete time crystal phase against noisy perturbations.

Axions may be produced thermally inside the cores of neutron stars (NSs), escape the stars due to their feeble interactions with matter, and subsequently convert into x rays in the magnetic fields surrounding the stars. We show that a recently discovered excess of hard x-ray emission in the 2–8 keV energy range from the nearby magnificent seven isolated NSs could be explained by this emission mechanism. These NSs are unique in that they had previously been expected to only produce observable flux in the UV and soft x-ray bands from thermal surface emission at temperatures $\sim 100\mathrm{eV}$. No conventional astrophysical explanation of the magnificent seven hard x-ray excess exists at present. We show that the hard x-ray excess may be consistently explained by an axionlike particle with mass $m_a\lesssim 2\times {10}^{-5}\mathrm{eV}$ and $g_{a\gamma \gamma }\times g_{\text{ann}}\in (2\times {10}^{-21},{10}^{-18}){\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$ at 95% confidence, accounting for both statistical and theoretical uncertainties, where $g_{a\gamma \gamma }$ ($g_{\text{ann}}$) is the axion-photon (axion-neutron) coupling constant.

We present the first search for gravitational waves from the coalescence of stellar mass and subsolar mass black holes with masses between $20–100M_{\odot }$ and $0.01–1M_{\odot }(10–{10}^3{M}_J)$, respectively. The observation of a single subsolar mass black hole would establish the existence of primordial black holes and a possible component of dark matter. We search the $\sim 164$ day of public LIGO data from 2015–2017 when LIGO-Hanford and LIGO-Livingston were simultaneously observing. We find no significant candidate gravitational-wave signals. Using this nondetection, we place a 90% upper limit on the rate of $30–0.01M_{\odot }$ and $30–0.1M_{\odot }$ mergers at $<1.2\times {10}^6$ and $<1.6\times {10}^4{\mathrm{Gpc}}^{-3}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$, respectively. If we consider binary formation through direct gravitational-wave braking, this kind of merger would be exceedingly rare if only the lighter black hole were primordial in origin ($<{10}^{-4}{\mathrm{Gpc}}^{-3}{\mathrm{yr}}^{-1}$). If both black holes are primordial in origin, we constrain the contribution of $1(0.1)M_{\odot }$ black holes to dark matter to $<0.3(3)\%$.

In this work, we initiate an integrability-based approach to multipoint conformal blocks for higher-dimensional conformal field theories. Our main observation is that conformal blocks for $N$-point functions may be considered as eigenfunctions of integrable Gaudin Hamiltonians. This provides us with a complete set of differential equations that can be used to evaluate multipoint blocks.

Chirality causes symmetry breaks in a large variety of natural phenomena ranging from particle physics to biochemistry. We investigate one of the simplest conceivable chiral systems, a laser-excited, oriented, effective one-electron Li target. Prepared in a polarized $p$ state with $|m|=1$ in an optical trap, the atoms are exposed to co- and counterrotating circularly polarized femtosecond laser pulses. For a field frequency near the excitation energy of the oriented initial state, a strong circular dichroism is observed and the photoelectron energies are significantly affected by the helicity-dependent Autler-Townes splitting. Besides its fundamental relevance, this system is suited to create spin-polarized electron pulses with a reversible switch on a femtosecond timescale at an energy resolution of a few meV.

Targeting at the realization of scalable photonic quantum technologies, the generation of many photons, their propagation in large optical networks, and a subsequent detection and analysis of sophisticated quantum correlations are essential for the understanding of macroscopic quantum systems. In this experimental contribution, we explore the joint operation of all mentioned ingredients. We benchmark our time-multiplexing framework that includes a high-performance source of multiphoton states and a large multiplexing network, together with unique detectors with high photon-number resolution, readily available for distributing quantum light and measuring complex quantum correlations. Using an adaptive approach that employs flexible time bins, rather than static ones, we successfully verify high-order nonclassical correlations of many photons distributed over many modes. By exploiting the symmetry of our system and using powerful analysis tools, we can analyze correlations that would be inaccessible by classical means otherwise. In particular, we produce on the order of ten photons and distribute them over 64 modes. Nonclassicality is verified with correlation functions up to the 128th order and statistical significances of up to 20 standard deviations.

We theoretically investigate high-pressure effects on the atomic dynamics of metallic glasses. The theory predicts compression-induced rejuvenation and the resulting strain hardening that have been recently observed in metallic glasses. Structural relaxation under pressure is mainly governed by local cage dynamics. The external pressure restricts the dynamical constraints and slows down the atomic mobility. In addition, the compression induces a rejuvenated metastable state (local minimum) at a higher energy in the free-energy landscape. Thus, compressed metallic glasses can rejuvenate and the corresponding relaxation is reversible. This behavior leads to strain hardening in mechanical deformation experiments. Theoretical predictions agree well with experiments.

Elastic moduli ($C_{ij}$) of single-crystal stishovite and post-stishovite are determined using Brillouin light scattering, impulsive stimulated light scattering, and x-ray diffraction up to 70 GPa. The $C_{12}$ of stishovite converges with the $C_{11}$ at $\sim 55\mathrm{GPa}$, where the transverse wave $V_{S1}$ propagating along [110] also vanishes. Landau modeling of the $C_{ij}$, $B_{1g}$ optic mode, and lattice parameters reveals a pseudoproper type ferroelastic post-stishovite transition. The transition would cause peculiar anomalies in $V_S$ and Poisson’s ratio in silica-bearing subducting slabs in the mid-lower mantle.