The inevitable presence of decoherence effects in systems suitable for quantum computation necessitates effective error-correction schemes to protect information from noise. We compute the stability of the toric code to depolarization by mapping the quantum problem onto a classical disordered eight-vertex Ising model. By studying the stability of the related ferromagnetic phase via both large-scale Monte Carlo simulations and the duality method, we are able to demonstrate an increased error threshold of 18.9(3)% when noise correlations are taken into account. Remarkably, this result agrees within error bars with the result for a different class of codes—topological color codes—where the mapping yields interesting new types of interacting eight-vertex models.

We demonstrate a fully tunable realization of a multistate Fano resonance, in which a pair of remote quantum states experience an effective coupling due to their mutual overlap with a continuum. Our mesoscopic implementation of this system exploits the ability of the semiconductor nanostructures known as quantum point contacts (QPCs) to serve, in the low-density limit close to pinch-off, as an on-demand localized state. By coupling the states formed on two separate QPCs, through a two-dimensional electron gas that serves as a continuum, we observe a robust effective interaction between the QPCs. To explain this result, we develop a theoretical formulation, based on the ideas of the Schrieffer-Wolff transformation, which is able to reproduce our key experimental findings. According to this model, the robust character of the interaction between the two remote states arises from the fact that the interaction is essentially mediated by a large number of degenerate continuum states. While the continuum is often viewed as a source of decoherence, our experiment therefore instead suggests the possibility of using this medium to support the interaction of quantum states, a result that may allow new approaches to coherently couple nanostructures in extended geometries.

The effect of the microscopic structure of a pore on polymer translocation is studied using Langevin dynamics simulation, and the consequence of introducing patterned stickiness inside the pore is investigated. It is found that the translocation process is extremely sensitive to the detailed structure of such patterns with faster than exponential dependence of translocation times on the stickiness of the pore. The stochastic nature of the translocation process leads to discernible differences between how polymers with different sequences go through specifically patterned pores. This notion is utilized to propose a stochastic sensing protocol for polynucleotides, and it is demonstrated that the method, which would be significantly faster than the existing methods, could be made arbitrarily robust.

Super rogue waves with an amplitude of up to 5 times the background value are observed in a water-wave tank for the first time. Nonlinear focusing of the local wave amplitude occurs according to the higher-order breather solution of the nonlinear wave equation. The present result shows that rogue waves can also develop from very calm and apparently safe sea states. We expect the result to have a significant impact on studies of extreme ocean waves and to initiate related studies in other disciplines concerned with waves in nonlinear dispersive media, such as optics, plasma physics, and superfluidity.

We investigate single-photon generation from individual self-assembled InGaAs quantum dots coupled to the guided optical mode of a GaAs photonic crystal waveguide. By performing confocal microscopy measurements on single dots positioned within the waveguide, we locate their positions with a precision better than $0.5\mu \mathrm{m}$. Time-resolved photoluminescence and photon autocorrelation measurements are used to prove the single-photon character of the emission into the propagating waveguide mode. The results obtained demonstrate that such nanostructures can be used to realize an on-chip, highly directed single-photon source with single-mode spontaneous emission coupling efficiencies in excess of ${\beta }_{\Gamma }\sim 85\%$ and the potential to reach maximum emission rates $>1\mathrm{GHz}$.

The magnetization dynamics of a synthetic antiferromagnet subjected to a short-magnetic-field pulse has been studied by using a combination of first principles calculations and atomistic spin-dynamics simulations. We observe switching phenomena on the time scale of tens of picoseconds, and inertia-like behavior in the magnetization dynamics. We explain the latter in terms of a dynamic redistribution of magnetic energy from the applied-field pulse to other possible energy terms, such as the exchange interaction and the magnetic anisotropy, without invoking concepts such as the inertia of an antiferromagnetic vector. We also demonstrate that such dynamics can also be observed in a ferromagnetic material where the incident-field pulse pumps energy to the magnetic anisotropy.

The logarithmic violations of the area law, i.e., an “area law” with logarithmic correction of the form $S\sim L^{d-1}\log L$, for entanglement entropy are found in both 1D gapless fermionic systems with Fermi points and high-dimensional free fermions. This paper shows that both violations are of the same origin, and that, in the presence of Fermi-liquid interactions, such behavior persists for 2D fermion systems. In this paper, we first consider the entanglement entropy of a toy model, namely, a set of decoupled 1D chains of free spinless fermions, to relate both violations in an intuitive way. We then use multidimensional bosonization to rederive the formula by Gioev and Klich [D. Gioev and I. Klich, Entanglement Entropy of Fermions in Any Dimension and the Widom Conjecture, Phys. Rev. Lett. 96, 100503 (2006).] for free fermions through a low-energy effective Hamiltonian and explicitly show that, in both cases, the logarithmic corrections to the area law share the same origin: the discontinuity at the Fermi surface (points). In the presence of Fermi-liquid (forward-scattering) interactions, the bosonized theory remains quadratic in terms of the original local degrees of freedom, and, after regularizing the theory with a mass term, we are able to calculate the entanglement entropy perturbatively up to second order in powers of the coupling parameter for a special geometry via the replica trick. We show that these interactions do not change the leading scaling behavior for the entanglement entropy of a Fermi liquid. At higher orders, we argue that this should remain true through a scaling analysis.

This paper is an attempt to identify the real essence of simplicity of liquids in John Locke’s understanding of the term. Simple liquids are traditionally defined as many-body systems of classical particles interacting via radially symmetric pair potentials. We suggest that a simple liquid should be defined instead by the property of having strong correlations between virial and potential-energy equilibrium fluctuations in the $NVT$ ensemble. There is considerable overlap between the two definitions, but also some notable differences. For instance, in the new definition simplicity is not a direct property of the intermolecular potential because a liquid is usually only strongly correlating in part of its phase diagram. Moreover, not all simple liquids are atomic (i.e., with radially symmetric pair potentials) and not all atomic liquids are simple. The main part of the paper motivates the new definition of liquid simplicity by presenting evidence that a liquid is strongly correlating if and only if its intermolecular interactions may be ignored beyond the first coordination shell (FCS). This is demonstrated by $NVT$ simulations of the structure and dynamics of several atomic and three molecular model liquids with a shifted-forces cutoff placed at the first minimum of the radial distribution function. The liquids studied are inverse power-law systems ($r^{-n}$ pair potentials with $n=18,6,4$), Lennard-Jones (LJ) models (the standard LJ model, two generalized Kob-Andersen binary LJ mixtures, and the Wahnstrom binary LJ mixture), the Buckingham model, the Dzugutov model, the LJ Gaussian model, the Gaussian core model, the Hansen-McDonald molten salt model, the Lewis-Wahnstrom ortho-terphenyl model, the asymmetric dumbbell model, and the single-point charge water model. The final part of the paper summarizes properties of strongly correlating liquids, emphasizing that these are simpler than liquids in general. Simple liquids, as defined here, may be characterized in three quite different ways: (1) chemically by the fact that the liquid’s properties are fully determined by interactions from the molecules within the FCS, (2) physically by the fact that there are isomorphs in the phase diagram, i.e., curves along which several properties like excess entropy, structure, and dynamics, are invariant in reduced units, and (3) mathematically by the fact that throughout the phase diagram the reduced-coordinate constant-potential-energy hypersurfaces define a one-parameter family of compact Riemannian manifolds. No proof is given that the chemical characterization follows from the strong correlation property, but we show that this FCS characterization is consistent with the existence of isomorphs in strongly correlating liquids’ phase diagram. Finally, we note that the FCS characterization of simple liquids calls into question the physical basis of standard perturbation theory, according to which the repulsive and attractive forces play fundamentally different roles for the physics of liquids.

We present the ultra-low-temperature heat-transport study of iron-based superconductors $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Ru}}_x{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$ and ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{P}}_x{)}_2$. For optimally doped $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{0.64}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{0.36}{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$, a large residual ${\kappa }_0/T$ at zero field and a $\sqrt{H}$ dependence of ${\kappa }_0(H)/T$ are observed, which provide strong evidences for nodes in the superconducting gap. This result demonstrates one more nodal superconductor in iron pnictides. The similarities between isovalent Fe and P dopings strongly suggest that the nodal superconductivity in $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{0.64}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{0.36}{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$ may have the same origin as in ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{0.67}{\mathrm{P}}_{0.33}{)}_2$. Furthermore, in underdoped $\mathrm{Ba}({\mathrm{Fe}}_{0.77}{\mathrm{Ru}}_{0.23}{)}_2{\mathrm{As}}_2$ and strongly underdoped ${\mathrm{BaFe}}_2({\mathrm{As}}_{0.82}{\mathrm{P}}_{0.18}{)}_2$, ${\kappa }_0/T$ manifests similar nodal behavior, which result shows the robustness of nodal superconductivity in the underdoped regime and puts constraint on theoretical models.

We study a carbon-nanotube quantum dot embedded in a superconducting-quantum-interference-device loop in order to investigate the competition of strong electron correlations with a proximity effect. Depending on whether local pairing or local magnetism prevails, a superconducting quantum dot will exhibit a positive or a negative supercurrent, referred to as a 0 or $\pi$ Josephson junction, respectively. In the regime of a strong Coulomb blockade, the 0-to-$\pi$ transition is typically controlled by a change in the discrete charge state of the dot, from even to odd. In contrast, at a larger tunneling amplitude, the Kondo effect develops for an odd-charge (magnetic) dot in the normal state, and quenches magnetism. In this situation, we find that a first-order 0-to-$\pi$ quantum phase transition can be triggered at a fixed valence when superconductivity is brought in, due to the competition of the superconducting gap and the Kondo temperature. The superconducting-quantum-interference-device geometry together with the tunability of our device allows the exploration of the associated phase diagram predicted by recent theories. We also report on the observation of anharmonic behavior of the current-phase relation in the transition regime, which we associate with the two accessible superconducting states. Our results finally demonstrate that the spin-singlet nature of the Kondo state helps to enhance the stability of the 0 phase far from the mixed-valence regime in odd-charge superconducting quantum dots.

Stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS) is traditionally viewed as a process whose strength is dictated by intrinsic material nonlinearities with little dependence on waveguide geometry. We show that this paradigm breaks down at the nanoscale, as tremendous radiation pressures produce new forms of SBS nonlinearities. A coherent combination of radiation pressure and electrostrictive forces is seen to enhance both forward and backward SBS processes by orders of magnitude, creating new geometric degrees of freedom through which photon-phonon coupling becomes highly tailorable. At nanoscales, the backward-SBS gain is seen to be ${10}^4$ times greater than in conventional silica fibers with 100 times greater values than predicted by conventional SBS treatments. Furthermore, radically enhanced forward-SBS processes are ${10}^5$ times larger than any known waveguide system. In addition, when nanoscale silicon waveguides are cooled to low temperatures, a further $10–100$ times increase in SBS gain is seen as phonon losses are reduced. As a result, a $100\mathrm{\text{−}}\mu \mathrm{m}$ segment of the waveguide has equivalent nonlinearity to a kilometer of fiber. Couplings of this magnitude would enable efficient chip-scale stimulated Brillouin scattering in silicon waveguides for the first time. More generally, we develop a new full-vectorial theoretical formulation of stimulated Brillouin scattering that accurately incorporates the effects of boundary-induced nonlinearities and radiation pressure, both of which are seen to have tremendous impact on photon-phonon coupling at subwavelength scales. This formalism, which treats both intermode and intramode coupling within periodic and translationally invariant waveguide systems, reveals a rich landscape of new stimulated Brillouin processes when applied to nanoscale systems.

Intermittent filamentary dynamics of the vortex matter in superconductors is found in films of ${\mathrm{YBa}}_2{\mathrm{Cu}}_3{\mathrm{O}}_{7\mathrm{\text{−}}\delta }$ deposited on tilted substrates. Deposition of this material on such substrates creates parallel channels of easy flux penetration when a magnetic field is applied perpendicular to the film. As the applied field is gradually increased, magneto-optical imaging reveals that flux penetrates via numerous quasi-one-dimensional jumps. The distribution of flux avalanche sizes follows a power law, and data collapse is obtained by finite-size scaling, with the depth of the flux front used as crossover length. The intermittent behavior shows no threshold value in the applied field, in contrast to conventional flux jumping. The results strongly suggest that the quasi-one-dimensional flux jumps are of a different nature than the thermomagnetic dendritic (branching) avalanches that are commonly found in superconducting films.

The electron spin is a natural two-level system that allows a qubit to be encoded. When localized in a gate-defined quantum dot, the electron spin provides a promising platform for a future functional quantum computer. The essential ingredient of any quantum computer is entanglement—for the case of electron-spin qubits considered here—commonly achieved via the exchange interaction. Nevertheless, there is an immense challenge as to how to scale the system up to include many qubits. In this paper, we propose a novel architecture of a large-scale quantum computer based on a realization of long-distance quantum gates between electron spins localized in quantum dots. The crucial ingredients of such a long-distance coupling are floating metallic gates that mediate electrostatic coupling over large distances. We show, both analytically and numerically, that distant electron spins in an array of quantum dots can be coupled selectively, with coupling strengths that are larger than the electron-spin decay and with switching times on the order of nanoseconds.

Ultrashort pulses of extreme ultraviolet light from high-harmonic generation are a new tool for probing coupled charge, spin, and phonon dynamics with element specificity, attosecond pump-probe synchronization, and time resolution of a few femtoseconds in a tabletop apparatus. In this paper, we address an important question in magneto-optics that has implications for understanding magnetism on the fastest time scales: Is the signal from the transverse magneto-optical Kerr effect at the ${\mathrm{M}}_{2,3}$ edges of a magnetic material purely magnetic or is it perturbed by nonmagnetic artifacts? Our measurements demonstrate conclusively that transverse magneto-optical Kerr measurements at the ${\mathrm{M}}_{2,3}$ edges sensitively probe the magnetic state, with almost negligible contributions from the transient variation of the refractive index by the nonequilibrium hot-electron distribution. In addition, we compare pump-probe demagnetization dynamics measured by both high harmonics and conventional visible-wavelength magneto-optics and find that the measured demagnetization times are in agreement.

The electronic structure of multilayer graphenes depends strongly on the number of layers as well as the stacking order. Here we explore the electronic transport of purely ABA-stacked trilayer graphenes in a dual-gated field-effect device configuration. We find both that the zero-magnetic-field transport and the quantum Hall effect at high magnetic fields are distinctly different from the monolayer and bilayer graphenes, and that they show electron-hole asymmetries that are strongly suggestive of a semimetallic band overlap. When the ABA trilayers are subjected to an electric field perpendicular to the sheet, Landau-level splittings due to a lifting of the valley degeneracy are clearly observed.

The interaction between substitutional nitrogen atoms in graphene is studied by performing first-principles calculations. The effective nearest-neighbor interaction between nitrogen dopants is found to be highly repulsive because of the strong electrostatic repulsion between nitrogen atoms. This interaction prevents the full nitrogen-carbon phase separation in nitrogen-doped graphene. Interestingly, there are two relatively stable nitrogen-nitrogen pair configurations, whose stability can be attributed to the anisotropy in the charge redistribution induced by nitrogen doping. We reveal two stable, ordered, semiconducting N-doped graphene structures, ${\mathrm{C}}_3\mathrm{N}$ and ${\mathrm{C}}_{12}\mathrm{N}$, through the cluster-expansion technique and particle-swarm optimization method. In particular, we show that ${\mathrm{C}}_{12}\mathrm{N}$ has a direct band gap of 0.98 eV. The heterojunctions between ${\mathrm{C}}_{12}\mathrm{N}$ and graphene nanoribbons might be a promising basis for organic solar cells.

Using current-voltage ($I\mathrm{\text{−}}V$), capacitance-voltage ($C\mathrm{\text{−}}V$), and electric-field-modulated Raman measurements, we report on the unique physics and promising technical applications associated with the formation of Schottky barriers at the interface of a one-atom-thick zero-gap semiconductor (graphene) and conventional semiconductors. When chemical-vapor-deposited graphene is transferred onto $n$-type Si, GaAs, 4H-SiC, and GaN semiconductor substrates, there is a strong van-der-Waals attraction that is accompanied by charge transfer across the interface and the formation of a rectifying (Schottky) barrier. Thermionic-emission theory in conjunction with the Schottky-Mott model within the context of bond-polarization theory provides a surprisingly good description of the electrical properties. Applications can be made to sensors, where in forward bias there is exponential sensitivity to changes in the Schottky-barrier height due to the presence of absorbates on the graphene, and to analog devices, for which Schottky barriers are integral components. Such applications are promising because of graphene’s mechanical stability, its resistance to diffusion, its robustness at high temperatures, and its demonstrated capability to embrace multiple functionalities.