The current phase relation (CPR) determines the electromagnetic response of Josephson junctions in superconducting circuits. It is sensitive to the weak link materials and interface quality. In this work, we report the intrinsic Josephson effect originating from domains in the single-crystal kagome superconductor ${\mathrm{CsV}}_3{\mathrm{Sb}}_5$, where no artificial weak links were introduced. By tuning the magnetic flux, we observe the Josephson diode effect and clear half-integer Shapiro steps. The quantitative analysis reveals a significantly enhanced second harmonic content in the CPR, exceeding the ballistic limit of a single Andreev Josephson junction. Such a pronounced second harmonic component is attributed to the nonuniformity of the current distribution and the nonsinusoidal CPR in highly transparent intrinsic Josephson junctions. The intrinsic Josephson junction formed at the domain wall shows the potential application for superconducting quantum technologies.

We investigate the localization transition of interacting particles in a one-dimensional system with colored-noise disorder, where backward scattering processes are suppressed beyond a cutoff. Employing two complementary renormalization group procedures, we derive the phase diagram and reveal a significant shift in the localization transition point, governed by correlations. Our numerical analysis further demonstrates that the scaling of the localization length with disorder strength deviates markedly from the conventional behavior observed in typical localized phases, highlighting the unique impact of correlated disorder on interacting quantum systems. Application to optical disorder used in cold atom experiments is discussed.

Given a triangulation of a closed orientable surface, we place single-mode resonators or single-orbital artificial atoms at its vertices, edges, and facets, and we devise near-neighbor hopping terms derived from the boundary and Poincaré duality maps of the simplicial complex of the triangulation. Regardless of the surface or its triangulation, these terms always lead to tight-binding Hamiltonians with large and clean topological spectral gaps, carrying non-trivial Chern numbers in the limit of infinite refinement of the triangulation. We confirm this via numerical simulations, and demonstrate how these models enable topological edge modes at the surfaces of real-world objects. Furthermore, we describe a metamaterial whose dynamics reproduces that of the proposed model, thus bringing the topological metamaterials closer to real-world applications.

Curved magnets offer a rich phase diagram and hold great promise for next-generation spintronic technologies. This Letter establishes the paramount significance of high-order vortex states (e.g., $3\phi$ with winding number $n\ge 2$) in ${\mathrm{VSe}}_2$ nanotubes, which uniquely enable magnonic functionalities fundamentally inaccessible to conventional magnetic systems, and additionally, the superposition of high-order vortex and helical states is identified. These states arise from diameter-dependent competition between the nearest-neighbor ferromagnetic ($J_1$) and longer-range antiferromagnetic ($J_2/J_3$) couplings, as jointly validated through density-functional theory calculations and Heisenberg modeling of phase diagrams. Based on the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation, we show that vortex states exhibit orbital angular momentum (OAM) hybridization governed by selection rules: magnetic anisotropy energy (MAE) and an external magnetic field couple the $l$ mode to $l\pm 2(n1)$ and $l\pm n$, respectively. For the $3\phi$ state, MAE couples the $l=0$ mode with $l=\pm 4$, producing eight-petal magnon density patterns and providing a natural mechanism for generating high-OAM magnons. These findings establish a predictive theoretical framework for controlling high-order vortex states in curved magnets and highlight ${\mathrm{VSe}}_2$ nanotubes as a promising platform for exploring complex magnetism and for the development of future magnonic and spintronic devices.

Since Kramers’ pioneering work in 1940, significant efforts have been devoted to studying Langevin equations applied to physical and chemical reactions projected onto few collective variables, with particular focus on the inference of their parameters. While the inference for overdamped Langevin equations is well established and widely applied, a notable gap remains in the literature for underdamped Langevin equations. This gap arises from the challenge of accessing velocities solely through finite differences of positions, resulting in spurious correlations. In this Letter, we propose an analytical correction for these correlations, specifically designed for a likelihood-maximization algorithm that exploits short, nonergodic trajectories that can be obtained at reasonable numerical cost. The accuracy and robustness of our approach are tested on a benchmark case and a realistic system. This Letter paves the way for applying generalized Langevin equation inference to activated phenomena, such as chemical reactions, in several scientific domains.

Teleportation of quantum information over long distances requires robust entanglement on the macroscopic scale. The construction of highly energetic eigenstates with tunable long-range entanglement can provide a new medium for information transmission. Using a symmetric superposition of the antipodal triplet states, we construct polynomially many exact zero-energy eigenstates for a class of nonintegrable spin-$1/2$ Hamiltonians with two-body interactions. These states exhibit nonthermal correlations, and hence, are genuine quantum many-body scars. By tuning the distribution of triplets, we induce extensive, logarithmic, or area-law entanglement and can observe a second-order entanglement phase transition. Quasiparticle excitations in this manifold converge to be exact quantum many-body scars in the thermodynamic limit. This framework has a natural extension to higher dimensions, where entangled states controlled by lattice geometry and internal symmetries can result in new classes of correlated out-of-equilibrium quantum matter. Our results provide a new avenue for entanglement control and quantum state constructions.

We report the first direct mapping of the frequency-resolved local density of states (LDOS) in a photonic time crystal (PTC) implemented as an array of time-periodically modulated LC resonators at microwave frequencies. Broadband white noise probes the system and yields an LDOS line shape near the momentum gap that can be decomposed into absorptive and dispersive Lorentzian components. The finite LDOS peak at the gap frequency, which grows with modulation strength, implies that the spontaneous emission rate of an emitter coupled to the PTC would be maximized at that frequency. The measured spectra are in good agreement with classical non-Hermitian Floquet theory. As the modulation-induced gain exceeds intrinsic losses, the system undergoes a transition to a narrow-band self-oscillation (lasing) regime. These results open a route to nonequilibrium photonics and bring time-periodic LDOS engineering closer to practical realization.

Consecutive topological phase transitions (TPTs) between strongly correlated electronic phases that differ simultaneously in symmetry breaking and topological order are of fundamental interest in condensed matter physics, yet, rarely realized experimentally. We report two consecutive electric-field–driven TPTs at half filling ($\nu =1$) in angle-aligned ${\mathrm{MoTe}}_2/{\mathrm{WSe}}_2$ moiré heterobilayers. With increasing out-of-plane displacement field, a geometrically frustrated Mott insulator evolves into a ferromagnetic quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) Mott insulator, i.e., a spin-polarized topological Mott insulator without an observable charge-gap closure, and subsequently into an antiferromagnetic, valley-coherent Mott insulator (VC-AFM) accompanied by a continuous charge-gap collapse and the emergence of a critical metallic state. Layer-resolved magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), magneto-transport, and compressibility measurements jointly determine the phase diagram. The high-field evolution of the antiferromagnetic state reveals a metamagnetic-like transition at a critical field $B^{*}$, above which a Chern insulating transport response reappears. Our results establish the ${\mathrm{MoTe}}_2/{\mathrm{WSe}}_2$ moiré platform as a tunable realization of an extended Kane–Mele–Hubbard model hosting sequential correlation–topology intertwined transitions.

We consider a model of hard-core bosons on a lattice half-filling a Chern band such that the system has a continuous transition between a fractional Chern insulator (FCI) and a superfluid state (SF) depending on the bandwidth to bandspacing ratio. We construct a parton-inspired trial wave function Ansatz for the ground states that has remarkably high overlap with exact diagonalization in both phases and throughout the phase transition. Our Ansatz is stable to adding some bosonic interactions beyond the on-site hard-core constraint. We confirm that the transition is well described by a projective translation symmetry-protected multiple parton bandgap closure, as has been previously predicted. However, unlike prior work, we find that our wave functions require anomalous (BCS-like) parton correlations to describe the phase transition and SF phase accurately.

Quantum steering, a fundamental manifestation of nonlocal quantum correlations, plays a vital role in quantum key distribution, quantum randomness generation, and quantum metrology. Reliable experimental detection of quantum steering is therefore a key task in quantum information science, but it is often hindered by measurement imperfections. Here, we introduce a randomized measurement protocol designed to mitigate the effects of imperfect measurements and enhance detection reliability. We theoretically prove that this approach effectively suppresses measurement errors by requiring only local operations on the trusted party; moreover, its dimension-independent nature ensures ready adaptability to quantum systems of arbitrary finite size. We experimentally validate the method using polarization-entangled photons, demonstrating consistent performance under controlled misalignments for both 2- and 3-setting configurations. Our results provide a practical and reliable framework for steering detection in realistic experimental conditions, paving the way for its integration into quantum certification and communication protocols.

Quantum backflow is a counterintuitive phenomenon in which the probability density of a quantum particle propagates opposite to its momentum. Experimental observation of backflow has remained elusive due to two main challenges: (i) the effect is intrinsically small, with less than 4% of the probability able to flow backward, and (ii) it requires wave packets with a well-defined momentum direction, which are difficult both to prepare and to verify under realistic, noisy conditions. Here, we overcome these challenges by introducing a general formulation of quantum backflow applicable to arbitrary momentum distributions. The framework recovers the standard backflow limit for unidirectional states and identifies general backflow as probability flow exceeding that predicted by the particle’s momentum distribution alone. We show that this excess can reach nearly 13%, surpassing the standard backflow bound by more than a factor of 3. Furthermore, we extend the framework to the closely related phenomenon of quantum reentry, provide explicit examples of quantum states exhibiting large general backflow and reentry, and discuss the foundational implications of these nonclassical effects. Our results open a pathway toward the experimental observation of quantum backflow in realistic settings.

We present the first successful large-$N$ computation of the $S^3$ free energy in chiral $\mathcal{N}=2$ Chern-Simons-matter theories, long believed to evade the universal M2-brane scaling $F_{S^3}\sim N^{3/2}$. Using a stable numerical continuation method that directly solves the saddle-point equations, we obtain convergent large-$N$ solutions for benchmark chiral quivers, including the holographic dual to ${\mathrm{AdS}}_4\times Q^{1,1,1}/{\mathbb{Z}}_k$ and $D_3$ models. The resulting free energies precisely match the holographic predictions, resolving a decade-old puzzle in ${\mathrm{AdS}}_4/{\mathrm{CFT}}_3$ and establishing a practical numerical framework for precision holography in strongly coupled gauge theories.

We provide arguments indicating that the semiclassical Einstein equations follow from quantum relative entropy and its proportionality to an area variation. Using modular theory, we establish that the relative entropy between the vacuum state and coherent excitations of a scalar quantum field on a bifurcate Killing horizon is given by the energy flux across the horizon. Under the assumption of the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy-area formula, this energy flux is proportional to a variation in the surface area of the horizon cross section. The semiclassical Einstein equations follow automatically from this identification. Our approach provides a quantum field theoretic generalization of Jacobson’s thermodynamic derivation of the Einstein equations, replacing classical thermodynamic entropy with the well-defined quantum relative (Araki-Uhlmann) entropy. This suggests that quantum information plays a central role in what is often seen as a zeroth order approximation of a theory of quantum gravity, namely quantum field theory in curved spacetimes.

We suggest that the chiral $({\mathfrak{e}}_8{)}_1$ theory—in many senses the simplest vertex operator algebra—may have Haagerup symmetry ${\mathcal{H}}_i$ for $i=1$, 2, 3. Likewise, we suggest that the nonchiral $(E_8{)}_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten model may have ${\mathcal{H}}_i\times {\mathcal{H}}_i^{\mathrm{op}}$ symmetry, and that gauging the diagonal symmetry gives a $c=8$ theory with $\mathcal{Z}({\mathcal{H}}_3)$ symmetry, which is the theory predicted in Evans and Gannon [Commun. Math. Phys. 307, 463 (2011)]. Along the way, we show that $(E_8{)}_1$ also has a $\mathrm{Fib}\times {\mathrm{Fib}}^{\mathrm{op}}$ symmetry, and that gauging the diagonal symmetry gives the $(G_2{)}_1\times (F_4{)}_1$ Wess-Zumino-Witten model, explaining the well-known conformal embedding $(G_2{)}_1\times (F_4{)}_1\subset (E_8{)}_1$. Finally, we suggest a relation to theories with ${\mathcal{H}}_3$ symmetry at $c=2$, 6, complimenting the discussion with new modular bootstrap results.

Incorporating nuclear shell effects within the framework of orbital-free density functional theory (DFT) has remained a long-standing challenge in nuclear physics. While the Hohenberg-Kohn theorem formally guarantees the existence of an orbital-free density functional that is capable of describing all many-body effects, including shell effects, practical attempts since the 1970s have consistently failed to capture such effects. This persistent difficulty has even led to the misconception that the orbital-free DFT is inherently unable to describe nuclear shell effects. Here we develop a nonlocal orbital-free DFT approach for atomic nuclei and demonstrate that nuclear shell effects can be successfully incorporated into the orbital-free DFT through the construction of a nonlocal kinetic energy density functional. In particular, we show that the nonlocal orbital-free functional yields a nucleon localization function that, as an established indicator of shell effects, exhibits consistent behavior with the exact Kohn-Sham solution.

Molecular mechanisms that enable collective and upconverted energy transfer from multiple photoacceptors to a nonabsorbing spectator reaction center are highly desirable for efficient light-energy utilization. Here, we show that intermolecular Coulombic decay (ICD), a nonlocal energy-relaxation channel in photoexcited molecules, offers an avenue for such a novel energy-transfer mechanism. On irradiation of a pyridine-argon gas mixture at 266 nm and at low laser intensities, we observed a surprisingly dominant formation of argon cations. Measurements of the laser-power dependence, together with systematic studies of ${\mathrm{Ar}}^{+}$ yield versus laser intensity and molecular density, reveal that ICD mediates the collective funneling of excitation energy from multiple photoexcited pyridine molecules to a nonphotoabsorbing argon atom, leading to its ionization. The density of the reaction center offers an efficient handle to optimize this collective energy transfer. This mechanism opens new avenues in light-harvesting design and may help explain the remarkable resistance of biomolecules to photodamage.

On-chip narrow linewidth microlasers with real-time wavelength tunability are highly desirable for various applications, including precision metrology, quantum technology, and coherent information processing. Although significant progress has been made by various groups in recent years [M. Li et al., Nat. Commun. 13, 5344 (2022); V. Snigirev et al., Nature (London) 615, 411 (2023); X. Zhang et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 124, 131101 (2024); S. Gundavarapu et al., Nat. Photonics 13, 60 (2019)], realizing such microlasers, especially within compact microresonators with a small footprint, remains a challenge. In this Letter, we overcome these hurdles and demonstrate on-chip electro-optically tunable Brillouin microlasers in compact lithium niobate on insulator microdisks with diameters of 31.5 and $117.0\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$ by utilizing cross-polarized stimulated Brillouin scattering configuration. A quasicontinuum band of bound shear mechanical modes inside the suspended microdisk is revealed, allowing feasible phase matching of stimulated Brillouin lasing. We achieve efficient cross-polarized optomechanical coupling and Brillouin lasing via the significant photoelastic tensors of lithium niobate (e.g., $p_{41}=-0.151$). This approach yields a 118-Hz short-term integral linewidth, a 0.16-Hz intrinsic linewidth, and a comparatively low threshold power of 3.15 mW. A real-time electro-optic tuning with a tuning efficiency of $\sim 93.1\mathrm{kHz}/\mathrm{V}$ is also achieved, further showcasing potential of the lithium niobate on insulator platform for next-generation tunable photonic systems.