Reports on progress in physics. Physical Society (Great Britain)最新文献

A search for pseudoscalar or scalar bosons decaying to a top quark pair (tt¯) in final states with one or two charged leptons is presented. The analyzed proton-proton collision data was recorded ats=13TeVby the CMS experiment at the CERN LHC and corresponds to an integrated luminosity of 138 fb-1. The invariant massmtt¯of the reconstructedtt¯system and variables sensitive to its spin and parity are used to discriminate against the standard modeltt¯background. Interference between pseudoscalar or scalar boson production and the standard modeltt¯continuum is included, leading to peak-dip structures in themtt¯distribution. An excess of the data above the background prediction, based on perturbative quantum chromodynamics (QCD) calculations, is observed near the kinematictt¯production threshold, while good agreement is found for highmtt¯. The data are consistent with the background prediction if the contribution from a simplified model of a color-singlet1S0[1]tt¯quasi-bound stateηt, inspired by nonrelativistic QCD, is added. Upper limits at 95% confidence level are set on the coupling between the pseudoscalar or scalar bosons and the top quark for boson masses in the range 365-1000 GeV, relative widths between 0.5% and 25%, and two background scenarios with or withoutηtcontribution.

Topological insulators exhibit boundary states protected by bulk band topology, a principle first established in quantum systems and later extended to classical waves, including phononics. Conventionally, ann-dimensional bulk with nontrivial topology hosts(n-1)-dimensional topologically protected boundary states, which may be further gapped out by breaking the symmetry that protects them, potentially leading to the emergence of(n-2)-dimensional, or even lower-dimensional topological states, as in higher-order topological insulators. In this work, we introduce an alternative mechanism for gapping out topological states and forming new topological modes within the resulting gap without further unit-cell symmetry breaking or dimension reduction. Using one- and two-dimensional Su-Schrieffer-Heeger models, we show that controlled repositioning of topological domain walls enables the construction of hierarchical unit cells that gap out the original domain-wall states while preserving the underlying symmetry. This process produces higher-hierarchical-level topological states, characterized by a generalized winding number, and can be iterated to realize multiple-potentially infinite-hierarchical levels of topological states. Our approach expands the conventional topological classification and offers a versatile route for engineering complex networks of protected modes in higher dimensions.

We present the results of the 'Fast Calorimeter Simulation Challenge 2022'-the CaloChallenge. We study state-of-the-art generative models on four calorimeter shower datasets of increasing dimensionality, ranging from a few hundred voxels to a few tens of thousand voxels. The 31 individual submissions span a wide range of current popular generative architectures, including variational autoencoders (VAEs), generative adversarial networks (GANs), normalizing flows, diffusion models, and models based on conditional flow matching. We compare all submissions in terms of quality of generated calorimeter showers, as well as shower generation time and model size. To assess the quality we use a broad range of different metrics including differences in one-dimensional histograms of observables, KPD/FPD scores, AUCs of binary classifiers, and the log-posterior of a multiclass classifier. The results of the CaloChallenge provide the most complete and comprehensive survey of cutting-edge approaches to calorimeter fast simulation to date. In addition, our work provides a uniquely detailed perspective on the important problem of how to evaluate generative models. As such, the results presented here should be applicable for other domains that use generative AI and require fast and faithful generation of samples in a large phase space.Report Numbers: HEPHY-ML-24-05, FERMILAB-PUB-24-0728-CMS, TTK-24-43.

Genuine multipartite entanglement (GME) is arguably the most valuable form of entanglement in the multipartite case with application for instance in quantum metrology. In order to detect that form of entanglement in multipartite quantum states, one typically uses entanglement witnesses. The aim of this paper is to generalize the results of Tóth and Gühne (2005Phys. Rev. A72022340) in order to provide a construction of witnesses of GME tailored to entangled subspaces originating from themulti-quditstabilizer formalism-a framework well known for its role in quantum error correction, which also provides a very convenient description of a broad class of entangled multipartite states (both pure and mixed). Our construction includes graph states of arbitrary local dimension. We then show that in certain situations, the obtained witnesses detecting GME in quantum systems of higher local dimension are superior in terms of noise robustness to those derived for multiqubit states.

Droplet formation has emerged as an essential concept for the spatiotemporal organisation of biomolecules in cells. However, classical descriptions of droplet dynamics based on passive liquid-liquid phase separation cannot capture the complex situation inside cells. This review discusses three distinct aspects that are crucial in cells: (i) biomolecules are diverse and individually complex, implying that cellular droplets possess complex internal behaviour, e.g. in terms of their material properties; (ii) the cellular environment contains many solid-like structures that droplets can wet; (iii) cells are alive and use fuel to drive processes out of equilibrium. We illustrate how these principles control droplet nucleation, growth, position, and count to unveil possible regulatory mechanisms in biological cells and other applications of phase separation.

Spin-polarized particle beams are of interest for applications like deep-inelastic scattering, e.g. to gain further understanding of the proton's nuclear structure. With the advent of high-intensity laser facilities, laser-plasma-based accelerators offer a promising alternative to standard radiofrequency-based accelerators, as they can shorten the required acceleration length significantly. However, in the scope of spin-polarized particles, they bring unique challenges. This paper reviews the developments in the field of spin-polarized particles, focusing on the interaction of laser pulses and high-energy particle beams with plasma. The relevant scaling laws for spin-dependent effects in laser-plasma interaction, as well as acceleration schemes for polarized leptons, ions, and gamma quanta, are discussed.

This study delves into the concept of quantum phases in open quantum systems, examining the shortcomings of existing approaches that focus on steady states of Lindbladians and highlighting their limitations in capturing key phase transitions. In contrast to these methods, we introduce the concept of imaginary-time Lindbladian evolution as an alternative framework. This new approach defines gapped quantum phases in open systems through the spectrum properties of the imaginary-Liouville superoperator. We find that, in addition to all pure gapped ground states, the Gibbs state of a stabilizer Hamiltonian at any finite temperature can also be characterized by our scheme, demonstrated through explicit construction. Moreover, the closing of the imaginary Liouville gap is associated with the divergence of the Markov length, which has recently been proposed as an indicator of phase transitions in open quantum systems. To illustrate the effectiveness of this framework, we apply it to investigate the phase diagram for open systems withZ2σ×Z2τsymmetry, including cases with nontrivial average symmetry protected topological order or spontaneous symmetry breaking order. Our findings demonstrate universal properties at quantum criticality, such as nonanalytic behaviors of steady-state observables, divergence of correlation lengths, and closing of the imaginary-Liouville gap. These results advance our understanding of quantum phase transitions in open quantum systems. In contrast, we find that the steady states of real-time Lindbladians do not provide an effective framework for characterizing phase transitions in open systems.

Proposed half a century ago, the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion explains the lack of charge and parity violation in the strong interactions and is a compelling candidate for cold dark matter. The last decade has seen the rapid improvement in the sensitivity and mass-range of axion experiments, as well as developments in theory regarding consequences of axion dark matter. We review here the astrophysical searches and theoretical progress regarding the QCD axion. We then give a historical overview of axion searches, review the current status and future prospects of dark matter axion searches, and then discuss proposed dark matter axion techniques currently in development.

Most atomic nuclei exhibit ellipsoidal shapes characterized by quadrupole deformationβ₂and triaxialityγ, and sometimes even a pear-like octupole deformationβ₃. The STAR experiment introduced a new 'imaging-by-smashing' technique ((STAR Collaboration) 2024Nature63567; Jia 2025Rep. Prog. Phys.88092301) to image the nuclear global shape by colliding nuclei at ultra-relativistic speeds and analyzing outgoing debris. Features of nuclear shape manifest in collective observables like anisotropic flowv_nand radial flow via mean transverse momentum[pT]. We present new measurements of the variances ofv_n(n = 2, 3, and 4) and[pT], and the covariance ofvn2with[pT], in collisions of highly deformed²³⁸U and nearly spherical¹⁹⁷Au. Ratios of these observables between the two systems effectively suppress common final-state effects, isolating the strong impact of uranium's deformation. By comparing results with state-of-the-art hydrodynamic model calculations, we extractβ2UandγUvalues consistent with those deduced from low-energy nuclear structure measurements. Measurements ofv₃and its correlation with[pT]also provide the first experimental suggestion of a possible octupole deformation for²³⁸U. These findings provide significant support for using high-energy collisions to explore nuclear shapes on femtosecond timescales, with implications for both nuclear structure and quark-gluon plasma studies.

Bose-Einstein condensation (BEC) represents a remarkable phase transition, characterized by the formation of a single quantum subsystem. As a result, the statistical properties of the condensate are highly unique. In the case of a Bose gas, while the mean number of condensed atoms is independent of the choice of statistical ensemble, the microcanonical, canonical (CN), or grand CN (GC) variances differ significantly among these ensembles. In this paper, we review the progress made over the past 30 years in studying the statistical fluctuations of BECs. Focusing primarily on the ideal Bose gas, we emphasize the inequivalence of the Gibbs statistical ensembles and examine various approaches to this problem. These approaches include explicit analytic results for primarily one-dimensional systems, methods based on recurrence relations, asymptotic results for large numbers of particles, techniques derived from laser theory, and methods involving the construction of statistical ensembles via stochastic processes, such as the Metropolis algorithm. We also discuss the less thoroughly resolved problem of the statistical behavior of weakly interacting Bose gases. In particular, we elaborate on our stochastic approach, known as the hybrid sampling method. The experimental aspect of this field has gained renewed interest, especially following groundbreaking recent measurements of condensate fluctuations. These advancements were enabled by unprecedented control over the total number of atoms in each experimental realization. Additionally, we discuss the fluctuations in photonic condensates as an illustrative example of GC fluctuations. Finally, we briefly consider the future directions for research in the field of condensate statistics.