The parity of the number of elementary excitations present in a quantum system provides important insights into its physical properties. Parity measurements are used, for example, to tomographically reconstruct quantum states or to determine if the decay of an excitation has occurred, information that can be used for quantum error correction in computation or communication protocols. Here, we demonstrate a versatile parity detector for propagating microwaves, which distinguishes between radiation fields containing an even or odd number $n$ of photons, both in a single-shot measurement and without perturbing the parity of the detected field. We showcase applications of the detector for direct Wigner tomography of propagating microwaves and heralded generation of Schrödinger cat states. This parity detection scheme is applicable over a broad frequency range and may prove useful, for example, for heralded or fault-tolerant quantum communication protocols.

Qubit readout is an indispensable element of any quantum information processor. In this work, we experimentally demonstrate a nonperturbative cross-Kerr couplingbetween a transmon and polariton mode which enables an improved quantum nondemolition (QND) readout for superconducting qubits. The new mechanism uses the same experimental techniques as the standard QND qubit readout in the dispersive approximation, but due to its nonperturbative nature, it maximizes the speed, the single-shot fidelity, and the QND properties of the readout. In addition, it minimizes the effect of unwanted decay channels such as the Purcell effect. We observe a single-shot readout fidelity of 97.4% for short 50-ns pulses and we quantify a QND-ness of 99% for long measurement pulses with repeated single-shot readouts.

We report on a new type of chimera state that attracts almost all initial conditions and exhibits power-law switching behavior in networks of coupled oscillators. Such switching chimeras consist of two symmetric configurations, which we refer to as subchimeras, in which one cluster is synchronized and the other is incoherent. Despite each subchimera being linearly stable, switching chimeras are extremely sensitive to noise: Arbitrarily small noise triggers and sustains persistent switching between the two symmetric subchimeras. The average switching frequency scales as a power law with the noise intensity, which is in contrast with the exponential scaling observed in typical stochastic transitions. Rigorous numerical analysis reveals that the power-law switching behavior originates from intermingled basins of attraction associated with the two subchimeras, which, in turn, are induced by chaos and symmetry in the system. The theoretical results are supported by experiments on coupled optoelectronic oscillators, which demonstrate the generality and robustness of switching chimeras.

We prove the existence of nonequilibrium phases of matter in the prethermal regime of periodically driven, long-range interacting systems, with power-law exponent $\alpha >d$, where $d$ is the dimensionality of the system. In this context, we predict the existence of a disorder-free, prethermal discrete time crystal in one dimension—a phase strictly forbidden in the absence of long-range interactions. Finally, using a combination of analytic and numerical methods, we highlight key experimentally observable differences between such a prethermal time crystal and its many-body localized counterpart.

Using quantum gas microscopy, we study the late-time effective hydrodynamics of an isolated cold-atom Fermi-Hubbard system subject to an external linear potential (a “tilt”). The tilt is along one of the principal directions of the two-dimensional square lattice and couples mass transport to local heating through energy conservation. Because of this coupling, the system quickly heats up to near infinite temperature in the lowest band of the lattice. We study the high-temperature transport and thermalization in our system by observing the decay of prepared initial density waves as a function of wavelength $\lambda$ and tilt strength and find that the associated decay time $\tau$ crosses over as the tilt strength is increased from characteristically diffusive to subdiffusive with $\tau \propto {\lambda }^4$. In order to explain the underlying physics and emphasize its universal nature, we develop a hydrodynamic model that exhibits this crossover. For strong tilts, the subdiffusive transport rate is set by a thermal diffusivity, which we are thus able to measure as a function of tilt in this regime. We further support our understanding by probing the local inverse temperature of the system at strong tilts, finding good agreement with our theoretical predictions. Finally, we discuss the relation of the strongly tilted limit of our system to recently studied 1D models that may exhibit nonergodic dynamics.

A large collaboration carefully benchmarks 20 first-principles many-body electronic structure methods on a test set of seven transition metal atoms and their ions and monoxides. Good agreement is attained between three systematically converged methods, resulting in experiment-free reference values. These reference values are used to assess the accuracy of modern emerging and scalable approaches to the many-electron problem. The most accurate methods obtain energies indistinguishable from experimental results, with the agreement mainly limited by the experimental uncertainties. A comparison between methods enables a unique perspective on calculations of many-body systems of electrons.

It is widely assumed that photons cannot be manipulated using electric or magnetic fields. Even though hybridization of photons with electronic polarization to form exciton-polaritons has paved the way to a number of groundbreaking experiments in semiconductor microcavities, the neutral bosonic nature of these quasiparticles has severely limited their response to external gauge fields. Here, we demonstrate polariton acceleration by external electric and magnetic fields in the presence of nonperturbative coupling between polaritons and itinerant electrons, leading to formation of new quasiparticles termed polaron-polaritons. We identify the generation of electron density gradients by the applied fields to be primarily responsible for inducing a gradient in polariton energy, which in turn leads to acceleration along a direction determined by the applied fields. Remarkably, we also observe that different polarization components of the polaritons can be accelerated in opposite directions when the electrons are in $\nu =1$ integer quantum Hall state.

Driven-dissipative systems are expected to give rise to nonequilibrium phenomena that are absent in their equilibrium counterparts. However, phase transitions in these systems generically exhibit an effectively classical equilibrium behavior in spite of their nonequilibrium origin. In this paper, we show that multicritical points in such systems lead to a rich and genuinely nonequilibrium behavior. Specifically, we investigate a driven-dissipative model of interacting bosons that possesses two distinct phase transitions: one from a high- to a low-density phase—reminiscent of a liquid-gas transition—and another to an antiferromagnetic phase. Each phase transition is described by the Ising universality class characterized by an (emergent or microscopic) ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetry. However, they coalesce at a multicritical point, giving rise to a nonequilibrium model of coupled Ising-like order parameters described by a ${\mathbb{Z}}_2\times {\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetry. Using a dynamical renormalization-group approach, we show that a pair of nonequilibrium fixed points (NEFPs) emerge that govern the long-distance critical behavior of the system. We elucidate various exotic features of these NEFPs. In particular, we show that a generic continuous scale invariance at criticality is reduced to a discrete scale invariance. This further results in complex-valued critical exponents and spiraling phase boundaries, and it is also accompanied by a complex Liouvillian gap even close to the phase transition. As direct evidence of the nonequilibrium nature of the NEFPs, we show that the fluctuation-dissipation relation is violated at all scales, leading to an effective temperature that becomes “hotter” and “hotter” at longer and longer wavelengths. Finally, we argue that this nonequilibrium behavior can be observed in cavity arrays with cross-Kerr nonlinearities.

A fully homomorphic encryption system hides data from unauthorized parties while still allowing them to perform computations on the encrypted data. Aside from the straightforward benefit of allowing users to delegate computations to a more powerful server without revealing their inputs, a fully homomorphic cryptosystem can be used as a building block in the construction of a number of cryptographic functionalities. Designing such a scheme remained an open problem until 2009, decades after the idea was first conceived, and the past few years have seen the generalization of this functionality to the world of quantum machines. Quantum schemes prior to the one implemented here were able to replicate some features in particular use cases often associated with homomorphic encryption but lacked other crucial properties, for example, relying on continual interaction to perform a computation or leaking information about the encrypted data. We present the first experimental realization of a quantum fully homomorphic encryption scheme. To demonstrate the versatility of a a quantum fully homomorphic encryption scheme, we further present a toy two-party secure computation task enabled by our scheme.

Recently, a novel real-space renormalization group (RG) algorithm was introduced. By maximizing an information-theoretic quantity, the real-space mutual information, the algorithm identifies the relevant low-energy degrees of freedom. Motivated by this insight, we investigate the information-theoretic properties of coarse-graining procedures for both translationally invariant and disordered systems. We prove that a perfect real-space mutual information coarse graining does not increase the range of interactions in the renormalized Hamiltonian, and, for disordered systems, it suppresses the generation of correlations in the renormalized disorder distribution, being in this sense optimal. We empirically verify decay of those measures of complexity as a function of information retained by the RG, on the examples of arbitrary coarse grainings of the clean and random Ising chain. The results establish a direct and quantifiable connection between properties of RG viewed as a compression scheme and those of physical objects, i.e., Hamiltonians and disorder distributions. We also study the effect of constraints on the number and type of coarse-grained degrees of freedom on a generic RG procedure.

We report a comprehensive muon spin rotation ($\mu \mathrm{SR}$) study of the prototypical magnetoelectric antiferromagnet ${\mathrm{Cr}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_3$. We find the positively charged muon (${\mu }^{+}$) occupies several distinct interstitial sites and displays a rich dynamic behavior involving local hopping, thermally activated site transitions, and the formation of a charge-neutral complex composed of a muon and an electron polaron. The discovery of such a complex has implications for the interpretation of $\mu \mathrm{SR}$ spectra in a wide range of magnetic oxides and opens a route to study the dopant characteristics of interstitial hydrogen impurities in such materials. We address implications arising from implanting a ${\mu }^{+}$ into a linear magnetoelectric and discuss the challenges of observing a local magnetoelectric effect generated by the charge of the muon.

At ambient pressure and zero field, tetragonal ${\mathrm{CeAuSb}}_2$ hosts stripe antiferromagnetic order at $T_N=6.3\mathrm{K}$. Here, we first show via bulk thermodynamic probes and x-ray diffraction measurements that this magnetic order is connected with a structural phase transition to a superstructure that likely breaks $C_4$ symmetry, thus signaling nematic order. The temperature-field-pressure phase diagram of ${\mathrm{CeAuSb}}_2$ subsequently reveals the emergence of additional ordered states under applied pressure at a multicritical point. Our phenomenological model supports the presence of a vestigial nematic phase in ${\mathrm{CeAuSb}}_2$ akin to iron-based high-temperature superconductors; however, superconductivity, if present, remains to be discovered.

The importance of the spin-orbit coupling (SOC) effect in Fe-based superconductors (FeSCs) has recently been under hot debate. Considering the Hund’s coupling-induced electronic correlation, the understanding of the role of SOC in FeSCs is not trivial and is still elusive. Here, through a comprehensive study of ${}^{77}\mathrm{Se}$ and ${}^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$ nuclear magnetic resonance, a nontrivial SOC effect is revealed in the nematic state of FeSe. First, the orbital-dependent spin susceptibility, determined by the anisotropy of the ${}^{57}\mathrm{Fe}$ Knight shift, indicates a predominant role from the $3d_{xy}$ orbital, which suggests the coexistence of local and itinerant spin degrees of freedom in the FeSe. Then, we reconfirm that the orbital reconstruction below the nematic transition temperature ($T_{\text{nem}}\sim 90\mathrm{K}$) happens not only on the $3d_{xz}$ and $3d_{yz}$ orbitals but also on the $3d_{xy}$ orbital, which is beyond a trivial ferro-orbital order picture. Moreover, our results also indicate the development of a coherent coupling between the local and itinerant spin degrees of freedom below $T_{\mathrm{nem}}$, which is ascribed to a Hund’s coupling-induced electronic crossover on the $3d_{xy}$ orbital. Finally, because of a nontrivial SOC effect, sizable in-plane anisotropy of the spin susceptibility emerges in the nematic state, suggesting a spin-orbital-intertwined nematicity rather than a simple spin- or orbital-driven nematicity. The present work not only reveals a nontrivial SOC effect in the nematic state but also sheds light on the mechanism of nematic transition in FeSe.

The interplay of symmetry and topology has been at the forefront of recent progress in quantum matter. Here, we uncover an unexpected connection between band topology and the description of competing orders in a quantum magnet. Specifically, we show that aspects of band topology protected by crystalline symmetries determine key properties of the Dirac spin liquid (DSL), which can be defined on the honeycomb, square, triangular, and kagome lattices. At low energies, the DSL on all of these lattices is described by an emergent quantum electrodynamics (${\mathrm{QED}}_3$) with $N_f=4$ flavors of Dirac fermions coupled to a $U(1)$ gauge field. However, the symmetry properties of the magnetic monopoles, an important class of critical degrees of freedom, behave very differently on different lattices. In particular, we show that the lattice momentum and angular momentum of monopoles can be determined from the charge (or Wannier) centers of the corresponding spinon insulator. We also show that for DSLs on bipartite lattices, there always exists a monopole that transforms trivially under all microscopic symmetries owing to the existence of a parent $SU(2)$ gauge theory. We connect our results to generalized Lieb-Schultz-Mattis theorems and also derive the time-reversal and reflection properties of monopoles. Our results indicate that recent insights into free-fermion band topology can also guide the description of strongly correlated quantum matter.

There is mounting empirical evidence that many communities of living organisms display key features which closely resemble those of physical systems at criticality. We here introduce a minimal model framework for the dynamics of a community of individuals which undergoes local birth-death, immigration, and local jumps on a regular lattice. We study its properties when the system is close to its critical point. Even if this model violates detailed balance, within a physically relevant regime dominated by fluctuations, it is possible to calculate analytically the probability density function of the number of individuals living in a given volume, which captures the close-to-critical behavior of the community across spatial scales. We find that the resulting distribution satisfies an equation where spatial effects are encoded in appropriate functions of space, which we calculate explicitly. The validity of the analytical formulae is confirmed by simulations in the expected regimes. We finally discuss how this model in the critical-like regime is in agreement with several biodiversity patterns observed in tropical rain forests.

Membrane nanotubes are continuously assembled and disassembled by the cell to generate and dispatch transport vesicles, for instance, in endocytosis. While these processes crucially involve the ill-understood local mechanics of the nanotube, existing micromanipulation assays only give access to its global mechanical properties. Here we develop a new platform to study this local mechanics using atomic force microscopy (AFM). On a single coverslip we quickly generate millions of substrate-bound nanotubes, out of which dozens can be imaged by AFM in a single experiment. A full theoretical description of the AFM tip-membrane interaction allows us to accurately relate AFM measurements of the nanotube heights, widths, and rigidities to the membrane bending rigidity and tension, thus demonstrating our assay as an accurate probe of nanotube mechanics. We reveal a universal relationship between nanotube height and rigidity, which is unaffected by the specific conditions of attachment to the substrate. Moreover, we show that the parabolic shape of force-displacement curves results from thermal fluctuations of the membrane that collides intermittently with the AFM tip. We also show that membrane nanotubes can exhibit high resilience against extreme lateral compression. Finally, we mimic in vivo actin polymerization on nanotubes and use AFM to assess the induced changes in nanotube physical properties. Our assay may help unravel the local mechanics of membrane-protein interactions, including membrane remodeling in nanotube scission and vesicle formation.

Periodically driven quantum systems are currently explored in view of realizing novel many-body phases of matter. This approach is particularly promising in gases of ultracold atoms, where sophisticated shaking protocols can be realized and interparticle interactions are well controlled. The combination of interactions and time-periodic driving, however, often leads to uncontrollable heating and instabilities, potentially preventing practical applications of Floquet engineering in large many-body quantum systems. In this work, we experimentally identify the existence of parametric instabilities in weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensates in strongly driven optical lattices through momentum-resolved measurements, in line with theoretical predictions. Parametric instabilities can trigger the destruction of weakly interacting Bose-Einstein condensates through the rapid growth of collective excitations, in particular in systems with weak harmonic confinement transverse to the lattice axis. Understanding the onset of parametric instabilities in driven quantum matter is crucial for determining optimal conditions for the engineering of modulation-induced many-body systems.

While there have been many calls to improve the quality of instructional physics labs, there exists little research on the effectiveness of lab instruction. This study provides a direct comparison between labs that have goals to reinforce physics content to those that emphasize experimentation skills. In this controlled study, all students attended the same lecture and discussion sections, had the same homework and exams, but attended labs that had one of two aims: teaching experimentation or reinforcing content. We compare students’ engagement with experimentation during the lab as well as the impacts on students’ exam performance and attitudes and beliefs about experimental physics. We find no measurable differences between lab conditions on students’ exam performance. Nonetheless, we find measurable and significant improvements in students’ engagement in expertlike experimentation practices and attitudes and beliefs about experimental physics for students in the experimentation labs. The benefits of the experimentation labs are stable across two subsequent semesters of implementation, as measured via standardized assessments. The results provide direct evidence of the extensive benefits of using labs to teach experimentation while directly demonstrating that shifting instructional goals and structure in labs can occur without cost to performance on course exams.

Colloidal gels, where nanoscale particles aggregate into an elastic yet fragile network, are at the heart of materials that combine specific optical, electrical, and mechanical properties. Tailoring the viscoelastic features of colloidal gels in real time thanks to an external stimulus currently appears as a major challenge in the design of “smart” soft materials. Here we introduce “rheoacoustic” gels, a class of materials that are sensitive to ultrasonic vibrations. By using a combination of rheological and structural characterization, we evidence and quantify a strong softening in three widely different colloidal gels submitted to ultrasonic vibrations (with submicron amplitude and frequency 20–500 kHz). This softening is attributed to micron-sized cracks within the gel network that may or may not fully heal once vibrations are turned off depending on the acoustic intensity. Ultrasonic vibrations are further shown to dramatically decrease the gel yield stress and accelerate shear-induced fluidization. Ultrasound-assisted fluidization dynamics appear to be governed by an effective temperature that depends on the acoustic intensity. Our work opens the way to a full control of elastic and flow properties by ultrasonic vibrations as well as to future theoretical and numerical modeling of such rheoacoustic gels.

There is much interest in employing terahertz (THz) radiation across a range of imaging applications, but so far, technologies have struggled to achieve the necessary frame rates. Here, we demonstrate a THz imaging system based upon efficient THz-to-optical conversion in atomic vapor, where full-field images can be collected at ultrahigh speeds using conventional optical camera technology. For a 0.55-THz field, we show an effective $1\text{−}{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ sensor with near diffraction-limited spatial resolution and a minimum detectable power of $(190\pm 30)\mathrm{fW}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1/2}$ per $(40\times 40)\mu {\mathrm{m}}^2$ pixel capable of video capture at 3000 frames per second. This combination of speed and sensitivity represents a step change in the state of the art of THz imaging and will likely lead to its uptake in wider industrial settings.