Quantum anomalies lead to finite expectation values that defy the apparent symmetries of a system. These anomalies are at the heart of topological effects in electronic, photonic, and atomic systems, where they result in a unique response to external fields but generally escape a more direct observation. Here, we implement an optical-network realization of a discrete-time quantum walk, where such an anomaly can be observed directly in the unique circular polarization of a topological midgap state. We base the system on a single-step protocol overcoming the experimental infeasibility of earlier multistep protocols. The evolution combines a chiral symmetry with a previously unexplored unitary version of supersymmetry. Having experimental access to the position and the coin state of the walker, we perform a full polarization tomography and provide evidence for the predicted anomaly of the midgap states. This approach opens the prospect to dynamically distill topological states for quantum information applications.

The $\mu \mathrm{eV}$ axion is a well-motivated extension to the standard model. The Axion Dark Matter eXperiment (ADMX) collaboration seeks to discover this particle by looking for the resonant conversion of dark-matter axions to microwave photons in a strong magnetic field. In this Letter, we report results from a pathfinder experiment, the ADMX “Sidecar,” which is designed to pave the way for future, higher mass, searches. This testbed experiment lives inside of and operates in tandem with the main ADMX experiment. The Sidecar experiment excludes masses in three widely spaced frequency ranges (4202–4249, 5086–5799, and 7173–7203 MHz). In addition, Sidecar demonstrates the successful use of a piezoelectric actuator for cavity tuning. Finally, this publication is the first to report data measured using both the ${\mathrm{TM}}_{010}$ and ${\mathrm{TM}}_{020}$ modes.

We elucidate chirality production under parity breaking constant electromagnetic fields, with which we clarify qualitative differences in and out of equilibrium. For a strong magnetic field the pair production from the Schwinger mechanism increments the chirality. The pair production rate is exponentially suppressed with mass according to the Schwinger formula, while the mass dependence of chirality production in the axial Ward identity appears in the pseudoscalar term only. We demonstrate that, in a real-time formulation with in and out states, the axial Ward identity with an in-in expectation value leads to a chirality production rate consistent with the Schwinger formula, while the axial anomaly with an in-out expectation value is canceled by the pseudoscalar condensate for any mass. We illuminate that such an in- and out-state formulation clarifies subtleties in the chiral magnetic effect in and out of equilibrium, and we discuss further applications to real-time condensates.

A large class of models addressing the electroweak naturalness problem postulates the existence of new spontaneously broken global symmetries above the weak scale. The Higgs boson arises as a pseudo-Nambu-Goldstone boson (PNGB) whose interactions are nonlinear due to the presence of degenerate vacua. We argue that, once the normalization of the PNGB decay constant $f$ is determined, the Higgs nonlinear interactions in the gauge sector are universal in the infrared and independent of the symmetry breaking pattern $G/H$, even after integrating out heavy composite resonances. We propose a set of “universal relations” in Higgs couplings with electroweak gauge bosons and in triple gauge boson couplings, which are unique predictions of the universal nonlinearity. Experimental measurements of these relations would serve as the litmus test of a PNGB Higgs boson.

Despite the great success of the standard model (SM), there still exist mysteries like the nature of dark matter, the strong $CP$ problems, etc. To solve them, many theories proposed new bosons beyond the SM that can mediate new forces. Here, we report the latest results of searching for possible new long-range spin-spin-velocity-dependent forces (SSVDFs), based on specially designed iron-shielded ${\mathrm{SmCo}}_5$ spin sources and a spin exchange relaxation free comagnetometer. With help from the similarity analysis method, new constraints on some forms of SSVDFs between electrons have been obtained, which represent up to more than 11 orders of magnitude tighter limits than previous experiments for the force range of 5 cm–1 km.

An enhanced low-energy electric dipole ($E1$) strength is identified for the weakly bound excited states of the neutron-rich isotope ${}^{27}\mathrm{Ne}$. The Doppler-shift lifetime measurements employing a combination of the $\gamma$-ray tracking array GRETINA, the plunger device, and the S800 spectrograph determine the lower limit of $0.030e^2{\mathrm{fm}}^2$ or 0.052 W.u. for the $1/2^{+}\to 3/2^{-}E1$ transition in ${}^{27}\mathrm{Ne}$, representing one of the strongest $E1$ strengths observed among the bound discrete states in this mass region. This value is at least 30 times larger than that measured for the $3/2^{-}$ decay to the $3/2_{gs}^{+}$ ground state. A comparison of the present results to large-scale shell-model calculations points to an important role of core excitations and deformation in the observed $E1$ enhancement, suggesting a novel example of the electric dipole modes manifested in weakly bound deformed systems.

We consider two-dimensional weakly bound heterospecies molecules formed in a Fermi-Bose mixture with attractive Fermi-Bose and repulsive Bose-Bose interactions. Bosonic exchanges lead to an intermolecular attraction, which can be controlled and tuned to a $p$-wave resonance. Such attractive fermionic molecules can be realized in quasi-two-dimensional ultracold isotopic mixtures. We show that they are stable with respect to the recombination to deeply bound molecular states and with respect to the formation of higher-order clusters (trimers, tetramers, etc.)

We report an experimental and numerical study of the propagation of free-electron laser pulses (wavelength 24.3 nm) through helium gas. Ionization and excitation populates the ${\mathrm{He}}^{+}$ $4p$ state. Strong, directional emission was observed at wavelengths of 469, 164, 30.4, and 25.6 nm. We interpret the emissions at 469 and 164 nm as $4p\text{−}3s\text{−}2p$ cascade superfluorescence, that at 30.4 nm as yoked superfluorescence on the $2p\text{−}1s$ transition, and that at 25.6 nm as free-induction decay of the $3p$ state.

We experimentally investigate the lattice-induced light shift by the electric-quadrupole ($E2$) and magnetic-dipole ($M1$) polarizabilities and the hyperpolarizability in Sr optical lattice clocks. Precise control of the axial as well as the radial motion of atoms in a one-dimensional lattice allows observing the $E2$-$M1$ polarizability difference. Measured polarizabilities determine an operational lattice depth to be $72(2)E_R$, where the total light shift cancels to the ${10}^{-19}$ level, over a lattice-intensity variation of about 30%. This operational trap depth and its allowable intensity range conveniently coincide with experimentally feasible operating conditions for Sr optical lattice clocks.

At intensities below the recollision threshold, we show that recollision-induced excitation with one electron escaping fast after recollision and the other electron escaping with a time delay via a Coulomb slingshot motion is one of the most important mechanisms of nonsequential double ionization (NSDI), for strongly driven He at 400 nm. Slingshot NSDI is a general mechanism present for a wide range of low intensities and pulse durations. Anticorrelated two-electron escape is its striking hallmark. This mechanism offers an alternative explanation of anticorrelated two-electron escape obtained in previous studies.

Strongly squeezed states of light are a key technology in boosting the sensitivity of interferometric setups, such as in gravitational-wave detectors. However, the practical use of squeezed states is limited by optical loss, which reduces the observable squeeze factor. Here, we experimentally demonstrate that introducing squeezed states in additional, higher-order spatial modes can significantly improve the observed nonclassical sensitivity improvement when the loss is due to mode-matching deficiencies. Our results could be directly applied to gravitational-wave detectors, where this type of loss is a major contribution.

In this work we demonstrate numerically that the nonlinearity provided by a continuously driven two-level system allows for the generation of Wigner-negative states of the electromagnetic field confined in one spatial dimension. Wigner-negative states, also known as Wigner nonclassical states, are desirable for quantum information protocols beyond the scope of classical computers. Focusing on the steady-state emission from the two-level system, we find the largest negativity at the drive strength where the coherent reflection vanishes.

Flatband systems typically host “compact localized states” (CLS) due to destructive interference and macroscopic degeneracy of Bloch wave functions associated with a dispersionless energy band. Using a photonic Lieb lattice (LL), such conventional localized flatband states are found to be inherently incomplete, with the missing modes manifested as extended line states that form noncontractible loops winding around the entire lattice. Experimentally, we develop a continuous-wave laser writing technique to establish a finite-sized photonic LL with specially tailored boundaries and, thereby, directly observe the unusually extended flatband line states. Such unconventional line states cannot be expressed as a linear combination of the previously observed boundary-independent bulk CLS but rather arise from the nontrivial real-space topology. The robustness of the line states to imperfect excitation conditions is discussed, and their potential applications are illustrated.

The wide-range application of photonic crystals and metamaterials benefits from the enormous design space of three-dimensional subwavelength structures. In this Letter, we study the space group constraints on photonic dispersions for all 230 space groups with time-reversal symmetry. Our theory carefully treats the unique singular point of photonic bands at zero frequency and momentum, which distinguishes photonic bands from their electronic counterpart. The results are given in terms of minimal band connectivities at zero ($M$) and nonzero frequencies ($M^{\prime }$). Topological band degeneracies are guaranteed to be found in space groups that do not allow band gaps between the second and third photonic bands ($M>2$). Our Letter provides theoretical guidelines for the choice of spatial symmetries in photonics design.

We investigate the collective dynamics and nondegenerate parametric resonance (NPR) of coplanar, interdigitated arrays of microcantilevers distinguished by their cantilevers having linearly expanding lengths and thus varying natural frequencies. Within a certain excitation frequency range, the resonators begin oscillating via NPR across the entire array consisting of 200 single-crystal silicon cantilevers. Tunable coupling generated from fringing electrostatic fields provides a mechanism to vary the scope of the NPR. Our experimental results are supported by a reduced-order model that reproduces the leading features of our data including the NPR band. The potential for tailoring the coupled response of suspended mechanical structures using NPR presents new possibilities in mass, force, and energy sensing applications, energy harvesting devices, and optomechanical systems.

The intermittency of a passive scalar advected by three-dimensional Navier-Stokes turbulence at a Taylor-scale Reynolds number of 650 is studied using direct numerical simulations on a $4096^3$ grid; the Schmidt number is unity. By measuring scalar increment moments of high orders, while ensuring statistical convergence, we provide unambiguous evidence that the scaling exponents saturate to 1.2 for moment orders beyond about 12, indicating that scalar intermittency is dominated by the most singular shocklike cliffs in the scalar field. We show that the fractal dimension of the spatial support of steep cliffs is about 1.8, whose sum with the saturation exponent value of 1.2 adds up to the space dimension of 3, thus demonstrating a deep connection between the geometry and statistics in turbulent scalar mixing. The anomaly for the fourth and sixth order moments is comparable to that in the Kraichnan model for the roughness exponent of $4/3$.

Mitigation of the beam hose instability in plasma-based accelerators is required for the realization of many applications, including plasma-based colliders. The hose instability is analyzed in the blowout regime including plasma ion motion, and ion motion is shown to suppress the hose instability by inducing a head-to-tail variation in the focusing force experienced by the beam. Hence, stable acceleration in plasma-based accelerators is possible, while, by use of proper bunch shaping, minimizing the energy spread and preserving the transverse beam emittance.

Sliding phases have been long sought after in the context of coupled $XY$ models, as they are of relevance to various many-body systems such as layered superconductors, freestanding liquid-crystal films, and cationic lipid-DNA complexes. Here we report an observation of a dynamical sliding phase superfluid that emerges in a nonequilibrium setting from the quantum dynamics of a three-dimensional ultracold atomic gas loaded into the $P$ band of a one-dimensional optical lattice. A shortcut loading method is used to transfer atoms into the $P$ band at zero quasimomentum within a very short time duration. The system can be viewed as a series of “pancake”-shaped atomic samples. For this far-out-of-equilibrium system, we find an intermediate time window with a lifetime around tens of milliseconds, where the atomic ensemble exhibits robust superfluid phase coherence in the pancake directions, but no coherence in the lattice direction, which implies a dynamical sliding phase superfluid. The emergence of the sliding phase is attributed to a mechanism of cross-dimensional energy transfer in our proposed phenomenological theory, which is consistent with experimental measurements. This experiment potentially opens up a novel venue to search for exotic dynamical phases by creating high-band excitations in optical lattices.

Stochastic reconstructions based on universal correlation functions allow obtaining spatial structures based on limited input data or to fuse multiscale images from different sources. Current application of such techniques is severely hampered by the computational cost of the annealing optimization procedure. In this study we propose a novel hierarchical annealing method based on rescaled correlation functions, which improves both accuracy and computational efficiency of reconstructions while not suffering from disadvantages of existing speeding-up techniques. A significant order of magnitude gains in computational efficiency now allows us to add more correlation functions into consideration and, thus, to further improve the accuracy of the method. In addition, the method provides a robust multiscale framework to solve the universal upscaling or downscaling problem. The novel algorithm is extensively tested on binary (two-phase) microstructures of different genesis. In spite of significant improvements already in place, the current implementation of the hierarchical annealing method leaves significant room for additional accuracy and computational performance tweaks. As described here, (multiscale) stochastic reconstructions will find numerous applications in material and Earth sciences. Moreover, the proposed hierarchical approach can be readily applied to a wide spectrum of constrained optimization problems.