Communications Physics最新文献

Exhausting power from the hot fusion core to the plasma-facing components is one fusion energy's biggest challenges. The MAST Upgrade tokamak uniquely integrates strong containment of neutrals within the exhaust area (divertor) with extreme divertor shaping capability. By systematically altering the divertor shape, this study shows the strongest evidence to date to our knowledge that long-legged divertors with a high magnetic field gradient (total flux expansion) deliver key power exhaust benefits without adversely impacting the hot fusion core. These benefits are already achieved with relatively modest geometry adjustments that are more feasible to integrate in reactor designs. Benefits include reduced target heat loads and improved access to, and stability of, a neutral gas buffer that 'shields' the target and enhances power exhaust (detachment). Analysis and model comparisons shows these benefits are obtained by combining multiple shaping aspects: long-legged divertors have expanded plasma-neutral interaction volume that drive reductions in particle and power loads, while total flux expansion enhances detachment access and stability. Containing the neutrals in the exhaust area with physical structures further augments these shaping benefits. These results demonstrate strategic variation in the divertor geometry and magnetic topology is a potential solution to one of fusion's power exhaust challenge.

The low-energy electronic structure of materials is crucial to understanding and modeling their physical properties. Angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is the best experimental technique to measure this electronic structure, but its interpretation can be delicate. Here we use a combination of density functional theory (DFT) and one-step model of photoemission to decipher the soft x-ray ARPES spectra of the quaternary borocarbide superconductor YNi₂B₂C. Our analysis reveals the presence of moderate electronic correlations beyond the semilocal DFT within the generalized gradient approximation. We show that DFT and the full potential Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker method combined with the dynamical mean field theory (DFT+DMFT) with average Coulomb interaction U = 3.0 eV and the exchange energy J = 0.9 eV applied to the Ni d-states are necessary for reproducing the experimentally observed SX-ARPES spectra.

Bose-Einstein Condensation is a phenomenon at the heart of many of the past century's most intriguing and fundamental manifestations, such as superfluidity and superconductivity: it was discovered theoretically some 100 years ago, and unequivocally experimentally demonstrated in the context of weakly-interacting gases 30 years ago. Since then, it has revolutionised our understanding of the collective quantum behaviour of matter. Such a phenomenon manifests itself across all physical scales, from the nuclear and atomic, all the way to the astrophysical, and has paved the way for novel technological applications.

Two-dimensional materials with flat electronic bands are promising for realising exotic quantum phenomena such as unconventional superconductivity and nontrivial topology. However, exploring their vast chemical space is a significant challenge. Here we introduce elf, an unsupervised convolutional autoencoder that encodes electronic band structure images into fingerprint vectors, enabling the autonomous clustering of materials by electronic properties beyond traditional chemical paradigms. Unsupervised visualisation of the fingerprint space then uncovers hidden chemical trends and identifies promising candidates based on similarities to well-studied exemplars. This approach complements high-throughput ab initio methods by rapidly screening candidates and guiding further investigations into the mechanisms underlying flat-band physics. The elf autoencoder is a powerful tool for autonomous discovery of unexplored flat-band materials, enabling unbiased identification of compounds with desirable electronic properties across the 2D chemical space.

The phase landscape of UTe₂ features a remarkable diversity of superconducting phases under applied pressure and magnetic field. Recent quantum oscillation studies at ambient pressure have revealed the quasi-2D Fermi surface of this material. However, the pressure-dependence of the Fermi surface remains an open question. Here we track the evolution of the UTe₂ Fermi surface as a function of pressure up to 19.5 kbar by measuring quantum interference oscillations. We find that in sufficient magnetic field to suppress both superconductivity at low pressures and incommensurate antiferromagnetism at higher pressures, the quasi-2D Fermi surface found at ambient pressure smoothly connects to that at 19.5 kbar, with no signs of a reconstruction over this pressure interval. We observe a smooth increase in oscillatory frequency with increasing pressure, indicating that the warping of the cylindrical Fermi sheets continuously increases with pressure. By computing a tight-binding model, we show that this enhanced warping indicates increased f-orbital contribution at the Fermi level - up to and beyond the critical pressure at which superconductivity is truncated. These findings highlight the value of high-pressure quantum interference measurements as a sensitive probe of the electronic structure in heavy fermion materials.

Modelling and simulating non-covalent interactions is challenging, as they are inherently weak, dynamic, and system-specific. Common predictive methods often require trading the accuracy for reducing the otherwise cumbersome computational cost. To date, the most accurate approaches, achieving chemical accuracy, rely on quantum mechanical descriptions of non-covalent interactions, which limits their scalability. Whether quantum computing could overcome these limitations is still unclear, as such methods need to be redesigned for quantum hardware. Here, we take the first step in this direction by presenting quantum-centric simulations of non-covalent interactions using a supramolecular approach for binding energy calculations. We use a sample-based quantum diagonalization (SQD) approach to simulate the potential energy surfaces (PES) of the water and methane dimers, featuring hydrogen bond and dispersion interactions, respectively. We benchmark our quantum simulations (27- and 36-qubit circuits) against classical methods, registering deviations within 1.000 kcal/mol from the leading ones. Finally, we test the limits of the quantum methods for capturing dispersion interactions with an experiment on 54 qubits. Beyond reaching state-of-the-art accuracy, our work lays out a framework for electronic structure calculations of non-covalent interactions on quantum hardware.

In many physical systems, degrees of freedom are coupled via hydrodynamic forces, even in the absence of Hamiltonian interactions. A particularly important and widespread example concerns the transport of microscopic particles in fluids near deformable boundaries. In such a situation, the influence of elastohydrodynamic couplings on Brownian motion remains to be understood. Unfortunately, the temporal and spatial scales associated with the thermal fluctuations of usual surfaces are often so small that their deformations are difficult to monitor experimentally, together with the much slower and larger particle motion at stake. Here, we propose a minimal model describing the hydrodynamic coupling of a colloidal particle to a fluctuating elastic mode, in presence of an external periodic potential. We demonstrate that the late-time diffusion coefficient of the particle increases with the compliance of the elastic mode. Our results reveal and quantify two features: first, spontaneous microscopic transport in complex environments can be affected by soft boundaries - a situation with numerous practical implications in nanoscale and biological physics; and second, the effects of fast and tiny surface deformations are imprinted in long-term and large-distance colloidal mobility, and are therefore measurable in practice.

Fluid-driven flow of granular material leads to complex behaviour and emergent instabilities in many natural and industrial settings. However, the effect of using fluid flow to vertically drive a dense bed of sedimenting grains is not well documented. Here we find contrasting behaviours in a submerged fluid-driven silo, including fingering patterns, porous flow, classical silo flow, and the formation of straight, semi-dilute wormhole-like channels. Once formed, these channels rapidly propagate towards the outlet and act as a bypass of the wider packing. The onset of this instability occurs when the gravity-driven grain flow at the free surface is insufficient to supply the fluid-assisted central region below the interface. Balancing empirical models of these flows predicts the height at which channels emerge as a function of grain size and flow rate. These findings provide a framework for predicting and controlling fluid-grain interactions in natural hazards, industrial processing, and geophysical flows.

Two-level systems (TLSs) are the basic units of quantum computers but face a trade-off between operation speed and coherence due to shared coupling paths. Here, we investigate a TLS given by a singlet-triplet (ST+) transition. We identify a magnetic-field configuration that maximizes dipole coupling while minimizing total dephasing, forming a compromise-free sweet spot that mitigates this fundamental trade-off. The TLS is implemented in a crystal-phase-defined double-quantum dot in an InAs nanowire. Using a superconducting resonator, we measure the spin-orbit interaction (SOI) gap, the spin-photon coupling strength, and the total TLS dephasing rate as a function of the in-plane magnetic-field orientation. Our theoretical description postulates phonons as the dominant noise source. The compromise-free sweet spot originates from the SOI, suggesting that it is not restricted to this material platform but might find applications in any material with SOI. These findings pave the way for enhanced nanomaterial engineering for next-generation qubit technologies.

Lattice gauge theories, the discrete counterparts of continuum gauge theories, provide a rich framework for studying non-equilibrium quantum dynamics. Recent studies suggest disorder-free localization in the lattice Schwinger model, but its origin remains unclear. Using a combination of analytical and numerical methods, we show that Hilbert space fragmentation emerges in the strong coupling limit, constraining particle dynamics and causing sharp jumps in entanglement entropy growth within charge sectors. By analyzing jump statistics, we find that entanglement growth follows a single-logarithmic or weak power-law dependence on time, rather than a double-logarithmic form. This suggests a single ergodicity-breaking regime that mimics many-body localization in finite systems due to fragmentation effects. Our findings clarify the nature of disorder-free localization and its distinction from conventional many-body localization, highlighting how gauge constraints influence thermalization in lattice gauge theories.