CMP Journal 2026-07-27
Statistics
Nature: 2
Nature Materials: 3
Nature Nanotechnology: 3
Nature Physics: 2
Nature Reviews Materials: 1
arXiv: 60
Nature
Pyridoxal photoenzymes for asymmetric radical-radical cross-couplings
Original Paper | Biocatalysis | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Cole C. Sorensen, Suhao Wang, Yao Ouyang, Saim Waheed, Claire G. Page, Greg Mann, Simon Allmendinger, Todd K. Hyster
Non-native photoenzymes have enabled a myriad of asymmetric bond-forming events that are otherwise challenging or currently impossible with small molecule catalysis.1,2 These reactions require enzymes with cofactors that are strong absorbers in the visible region with reasonably long-lived excited states, such as flavin and nicotinamide. However, there exists a substantial chromophoric cofactor “dark space” where no known photoenzymatic activity has been characterized.1 Increased knowledge of the photophysics of the cofactors in the “dark space” would increase the types of bonds that photoenzymes can form by accessing new excited state intermediates in enzyme classes with divergent reactivities and selectivities. Here, we establish pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP) as a photoenzymatic cofactor by leveraging the excited state quinonoid intermediate as a potent single-electron reductant. We overcome the poor photophysical properties of the native quinonoid intermediate by employing non-native benzyl amine substrates and exploiting Förster resonance energy transfer mechanism from an exogenous photosensitizer to access the quinonoid excited state. This redox neutral approach enables an asymmetric radical-radical cross-coupling between benzyl amines and reductive radical precursors through concomitant generation and localization of a radical pair in an enzyme active site–overcoming the typical challenges associated with this reaction by removing the necessity for radical sorting and the persistent radical effect. 33 The emergent photoexcited intermediates of PLP identified in this work greatly expands the potential avenues for valuable bond forming events by PLP-dependent enzymes.
Biocatalysis, Stereochemistry
Phase-homogeneous mixed halide perovskites for stable tandem photovoltaics
Original Paper | Energy | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Pengju Shi, Jiale Zhuang, Dayong Zhang, Chu Li, Stefan Zeiske, Jin Hou, Isaiah W. Gilley, Ilhan Yavuz, Ubaid Kazianga, Congqi Li, Yu Zhang, Kefu Huang, Teerapat Itsoponpan, Xin Jiang, Chiung-Han Chen, Chuying Huang, Yi Yang, Xianfu Zhang, Pronoy Nandi, Samantha A. Reitz, Antonio Facchetti, Keith P. White, Keenan Wyatt, Michael F. Toney, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Tobin J. Marks, Cheng Liu, Bin Chen, Edward H. Sargent
Mixed-halide wide-bandgap (WBG) perovskites needed in tandem photovoltaics suffer from phase segregation, even at the time of initial film formation - the result of asymmetric nucleation of I-rich and Br-rich phases1-3. Known homogenization strategies tune Pb2+ coordination strength4-6; however, Pb2+-based modulation applies across all Pb2+ centers and does not preferentially address the problem that PbBrx nucleates faster than does PbIx. Here we introduce a selective coordination principle: we tune local Lewis-base hardness at the donor atom through a molecular dipole, an approach that constrains the polarizability of the O-donor’s outermost electrons. The harder O-donor preferentially coordinates the harder Pb2+ of PbBrx, selectively retarding Br-rich nucleation and synchronizing it with PbIx. This leads to compositionally homogeneous WBG films, enabling solar cells with bandgaps of 1.62 eV, 1.68 eV, and 1.88 eV, each achieving enhanced PCE and extended stability (1500 h, ≥T90, 1 sun and 65 °C). Perovskite/organic tandem cells fabricated with these WBG films and an infrared-active organic cell deliver certified 27.0% (steady-state 26.4%) efficiency, with T91 (ISOS-L2 at 65 °C) of 1000 h.
Energy, Solar cells
Nature Materials
Non-reciprocal linearly polarized light in simple media
Original Paper | Circular dichroism | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Thomas J. Ugras, Daniel J. Gracias, Reilly P. Lynch, Oriol Arteaga, Richard D. Robinson
Reciprocity–the principle that a response is identical along the forward and backward paths–is a fundamental concept across physics. Non-reciprocity occurs when this symmetry is broken, resulting in direction-dependent behaviour. Achieving optical non-reciprocity typically requires complex metamaterials, exotic media or strong fields. Researchers have overlooked the possibility that conventional materials could support optical non-reciprocity. Here, through the Stokes-Mueller formalism, we predict a pathway to non-reciprocal absorption and emission of orthogonal linear polarizations. We test this idea using solution-processed films of CdS, CdSe and CdTe magic-size clusters with comparable circular and linear dichroism, and demonstrate non-reciprocal absorption and emission of linearly polarized light. Based on these findings, several design rules and practical applications are presented. Our work reveals that non-reciprocal linear dichroism and emission can be achieved in readily processable materials by harnessing chiral-linear optical interference, providing opportunities within polarization-based quantum optics and photonics such as direction-dependent optical routing or polarization-multiplexed encryption.
Circular dichroism, Design, synthesis and processing, Organic-inorganic nanostructures, Quantum dots, Spectrophotometry
Force-responsive biomaterials drive tissue repair by harnessing endogenous growth factors
Original Paper | Biomedical engineering | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Magdalene Y. Ho, Nuria Oliva, Christopher Basu, Marcos R. Rodriguez, Jose Antonio Duran-Mota, Divya M. Gollapalli, Victor G. Szwarcberg, Mo Akhavani, Kyle P. Quinn, Benjamin D. Almquist
Materials enabling the cell-responsive delivery of endogenous biologics, such as growth factors, have the potential to modulate wound repair cost-effectively and safely. Unlike passive drug delivery strategies that require supraphysiological doses of recombinant protein or stimuli-responsive systems that rely on external triggers, we demonstrate a strategy that harnesses cellular traction forces as an intrinsic delivery trigger. Traction-force-activated payloads are bioinspired aptamer constructs attached to biomaterial scaffolds that selectively harvest, concentrate and reactivate multiple endogenous growth factors from cells, injury sites and blood lysate in vivo (rat femur and mouse skin) and ex vivo (human skin), at doses orders of magnitude lower than current clinical standards. Unmodified oligonucleotide aptamers retain functionality in enzyme-rich wound environments, substantially expanding the translational potential of nucleic-acid-based therapeutics. The ability to harvest and redeliver endogenous growth factors without exogenous triggers, recombinant proteins or cold-chain logistics via mechanoresponsive biomaterials opens possibilities for accessible, cost-effective combinatorial biologic therapies.
Biomedical engineering, Biomedical materials, Drug delivery
Hydrogen-induced damage in Ni-based superalloys at elevated temperatures
Original Paper | Mechanical properties | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Shuai Kong, Xizhen Dong, Zheng Zhong, Jie Hou, Yubo Zhao, Baptiste Gault, Shaolou Wei, Aparna Saksena, Kai-Shang Li, Binhan Sun, Xian-Cheng Zhang, Dierk Raabe, Shan-Tung Tu
The urgent need to decarbonize the energy and transport sectors motivates the use of hydrogen-containing fuels in gas turbines for power generation and aviation applications, exposing safety-critical components to hydrogen environments at elevated temperatures. Ambient-temperature hydrogen embrittlement has long been interpreted through the physical interactions between hydrogen and microstructural defects like interfaces and dislocations. Here we show that this understanding does not fully capture the behaviour at elevated temperatures, where vacancy-driven chemical reactions between hydrogen and specific microstructural constituents can markedly intensify embrittlement compared with ambient conditions. In a prototypical face-centred cubic Ni-based superalloy, our near-atomic-scale characterization and ab initio calculations reveal strong trapping of hydrogen atoms in carbon vacancies in carbides, driving their partial decomposition while simultaneously triggering localized methane formation at the carbide-matrix interface. As a result, the heterointerfaces are weakened, rendering them vulnerable to deformation-induced damage. Our work provides a physical foundation for mechanistic modelling of elevated-temperature hydrogen embrittlement in Ni-based alloys, an emerging area critical to hydrogen-fuelled turbines and related high-temperature technologies.
Mechanical properties, Metals and alloys
Nature Nanotechnology
Integrated blue ZnSe/ZnS quantum dot lasers on a silicon nitride platform
Original Paper | Nanocavities | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Jinhua He
(何锦华), Korneel Molkens, Dries Van Thourhout, Pieter Geiregat, Zeger Hens, Ivo Tanghe
On-chip blue lasers are essential for data storage, quantum photonics, optical communications and lab-on-chip sensing. Existing GaN-based devices deliver high performance but demand lattice-matched substrates, involve complex architectures and suffer from high optical losses in the visible range. Here we extend the CMOS-compatible fabrication methodology used to incorporate emitting colloidal quantum dots (QDs) with silicon nitride (SiNx) platforms from proven red and green to blue lasers. Implementing QD design rules for optimal gain performance, we obtain blue-emitting ZnSe/ZnS QDs with gain metrics on par with established red and green QDs. After encapsulating QD films with an organic/inorganic bilayer, we demonstrate stable lasing under femtosecond and nanosecond pumping using different cavity designs. Such films, coated on low-loss SiNx two-dimensional photonic crystal cavities, yield out-of-plane lasing between 425 and 445 nm, with quasi-continuous-wave thresholds of 7.5 kW cm-2. In addition, in-plane, waveguide-coupled lasing is demonstrated by depositing ZnSe/ZnS QD films on top of a one-dimensional distributed feedback cavity. Our work underscores the potential of non-toxic, solution-processable ZnSe-based QDs for integrated blue photonics.
Nanocavities, Photonic crystals, Quantum dots, Semiconductor lasers
Spontaneous and indefinite blinking in upconverting nanoparticles for ångström-precision multicolour super-resolution imaging
Original Paper | Nanoparticles | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Saptarshi Mandal, Harrison W. Toll, Kaibo Ma, Irmuun Tommy Altankhuyag, Lidao Li, Wanlin Zhang, João F. Shida, Chunte Sam Peng
Single-molecule localization microscopy enables high-resolution biological imaging, but its precision is limited by the rapid photobleaching of conventional fluorophores. Multicolour imaging is further constrained by the need for spectrally distinct dyes requiring separate excitations or sequential acquisition. Here we show that small (10 nm) upconverting nanoparticles can be compositionally tuned to exhibit spontaneous, sustained blinking under single near-infrared excitation without optical or chemical modulation. By adjusting sensitizer (Yb3+)-emitter (Tm3+/Er3+) ratios, we identify a regime with intrinsic ON-OFF switching and low duty cycles (0.9%) without photobleaching or statistical aging, enabling repeated localizations and sub-ångström precision (0.62 Å over 88,000 localizations) in upconversion-enabled stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy. By elucidating the underlying physical mechanism of this blinking, we engineered blue- and red-emitting probes for multicolour upconversion-enabled stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy. This technique enables the resolution of tightly packed UCNPs and the visualization of epidermal growth factor receptor dimers and multimers on cell membranes at single-protein resolution, all achieved with a simple optical setup without imaging buffers.
Nanoparticles, Super-resolution microscopy
Hidden spin-valley locking stabilizes nanosecond spin polarization in 2D perovskites
Original Paper | Spintronics | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Rayan Chakraborty, Yifan Dong, Jacob L. Shelton, Kelsey Garden, Leo Romanetz, Matthew P. Hautzinger, Matthew C. Beard, Volker Blum, David B. Mitzi
Room-temperature spin control in semiconductors is fundamental to spin-optoelectronics. Although inversion symmetry breaking offers one path for spin control in semiconductors, strong spin dephasing at elevated temperatures remains a persistent limitation. Hidden spin polarization without global symmetry breaking provides another promising material design strategy, but robust spin stabilization from this effect has yet to be experimentally realized. Here we show spin stabilization at room temperature in two-dimensional hybrid organic-inorganic perovskites through hidden spin-valley locking. We use functional non-primary ammonium cations to induce symmetry-breaking distortions in the metal-halide layers, producing giant local spin splitting while preserving global inversion symmetry. Time-resolved circular dichroism measurements reveal optically generated spin-polarized carriers that persist for 686 ps in (AzOH)2PbI4 and 4.7 ns in the lead-free analogue (AzOH)2SnI4 at room temperature, without an external magnetic field. First-principles calculations suggest that these long lifetimes arise from hidden spin valleys, enhanced dielectric screening and reduced spin-orbit-induced scattering in the Sn-based compound. Our design paradigm unlocks inversion-symmetric semiconductors with ultralong spin lifetimes, broadening the materials options for light-driven spin control.
Spintronics, Two-dimensional materials
Nature Physics
Dynamics of supracellular keratin bundling and nuclear uncaging in stretched epithelia
Original Paper | Biological physics | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Tom Golde, Marco Pensalfini, Nimesh Chahare, Pere Roca-Cusachs, Gerhard Wiche, Guillaume T. Charras, Marino Arroyo, Xavier Trepat
There is broad consensus that intermediate filaments, such as keratin, play a key role in protecting cells and tissues from large deformations. However, little is known about how they fulfil this function. Here we show that epithelial cells slowly adapt to stretching through a coupling of a star-bundling transition of keratin filaments with the escape of the nucleus from its keratin cage. The bundling transition begins with a depletion of keratin filaments at tricellular junctions followed by a progressive accumulation in thick bundles that bisect cell-cell junctions. Bundling is a cooperative process that initiates in a few scattered cells and propagates to their neighbours, leading to the growth of multicellular clusters that contain a percolated network of thick keratin bundles. Bundling dynamics are slow and strongly influenced by the interaction between actin and keratin. Informed by a computational model, we provide evidence that keratin bundling generates a compressive stress on the nucleus, which is relaxed by nuclear escape from the keratin cage. The topological transitions identified here provide epithelia with a multiscale mechanism to adapt to sustained stretching.
Biological physics, Biopolymers in vivo, Computational biophysics
Topological phase transitions and mixed-state order in a Hubbard quantum simulator
Original Paper | Phase transitions and critical phenomena | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Lin Su, Rahul Sahay, Michal Szurek, Alexander Douglas, Ognjen Marković, Ceren B. Dag, Ruben Verresen, Markus Greiner
Topological phase transitions separate many-body phases that are locally indistinguishable yet globally distinct. Here we show that such a transition can be identified between one-dimensional crystalline-symmetry-protected topological phases using a quantum simulator of interacting erbium atoms in an optical lattice. We detect the critical point through non-local string order parameters and reveal its connection to the transition predicted between Mott and Haldane insulators. We also show that stacking two identical systems eliminates the transition, consistent with the predicted group structure and the invertibility of symmetry-protected topological phases. Finally, introducing symmetry-breaking disorder removes the transition, whereas disorder averaging restores it. The adjacent phases, therefore, realize a form of mixed-state quantum order in which the criticality between them depends on the observer’s information. Our results show how topology and information shape quantum phase transitions in programmable quantum matter.
Phase transitions and critical phenomena, Quantum information, Quantum simulation, Topological insulators, Ultracold gases
Nature Reviews Materials
Closed-loop battery recycling through cathode resynthesis
Review Paper | Batteries | 2026-07-26 20:00 EDT
Yi Cai, Ruirui Zhao, Deepika Ranganathan, Madhavi Srinivasan
As global economies increasingly embrace sustainable energy infrastructures, the demand for effective recycling approaches supporting the rapid expansion of lithium-ion batteries intensifies. Hydrometallurgy stands out among recycling routes for large-scale adoption, accommodating diverse cathode chemistries and facilitating precursor recovery for cathode resynthesis. However, there is a gap in understanding how the key material properties of resynthesized cathodes contribute to existing performance disparities, and the extent to which emerging hydrometallurgical closed-loop pathways can regenerate commercial-grade cathodes. This Review traces the evolution of spent cathodes through closed-loop hydrometallurgical pathways, benchmarking resynthesized cathodes against commercial analogues. We investigate and link observed performance deviations to precursor quality, originating from variable battery leachate composition. Key bottlenecks in recovering battery-grade precursors from complex leachates derived from traditional (mineral acid) and emerging sustainable hydrometallurgical routes (bioleaching, organic acids and deep eutectic solvents) are identified. These bottlenecks are directly linked to primary factors governing precursor quality such as impurity profiles, phase composition and microstructure. Practical insights to minimize the current performance gaps by bridging leachate chemistry and precursor architecture are discussed, providing guidance for the design of closed-loop hydrometallurgical recycling processes capable of functional cathode resynthesis.
Batteries, Materials chemistry
arXiv
Generative and multimodal AI for materials prediction and design: Progress, challenges, and perspectives
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Xianyuan Liu, Charles Anjah, Benjamin E. Jolly, Jonathon F. S. Markanday, Joshua Berry, Haolin Wang, Nicola A. Morley, Robert D. J. Oliver, Alexandra J. Ramadan, Delvin Ce Zhang, Katerina A. Christofidou, Haiping Lu
Artificial intelligence (AI) is accelerating materials prediction and design by enabling efficient exploration of chemical and structural spaces, with particular promise for novel materials discovery. However, novelty in materials discovery encompasses chemical plausibility, structural distinctiveness, property relevance and experimental realisability, making AI-driven novelty claims difficult to substantiate. We introduce a materials property hierarchy, from intrinsic, composition-determined properties to extrinsic, processing-dependent performance, to clarify deployment constraints and distinguish structural, physical and deployment novelty. This framework motivates an evidence-based view of multimodal materials data spanning chemical composition, microstructure, processing, and testing and characterisation, showing that current evidence remains concentrated in composition and idealised structure while heterogeneous, under-represented and weakly integrated modalities limit support for physical and deployment novelty. It also highlights the limitations of benchmarks based mainly on computational labels and proxy novelty criteria. Community-wide standards for data collection, modality alignment and evidence synthesis are needed to support multimodal data construction, process-aware multimodal modelling, feasibility-first generative modelling and deployment-aware benchmarking, so that generative and multimodal AI can design experimentally realisable materials with defensible scientific and practical novelty.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI), Machine Learning (cs.LG)
Symmetry-Adapted Physical and Vibrational Properties of Ferroelectric Perovskite Oxides: Application to PbZrxTi1-xO3
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Sumit Ranjan Maity, Brajesh Tiwari
Crystal symmetry governs macroscopic physical properties and lattice dynamics in functional materials. We present a systematic application of tensor analysis and group theory to determine allowed physical-property tensors, vibrational-mode symmetries, and Raman selection rules directly from crystallographic point-group symmetry. The approach is applied to the prototypical ferroelectric PbZrxTi1-xO3 (PZT). Symmetry lowering across the PZT phase diagram increases the number of independent pyroelectric, dielectric, and piezoelectric tensor components and modifies the symmetry classification of Raman-active vibrations. These mode classifications enable symmetry-based decomposition of reported room-temperature powder Raman spectra as a function of composition (x) across the morphotropic phase boundary, revealing the tetragonal-to-rhombohedral transition as a continuous redistribution of spectral intensity rather than emergence of new Raman modes. Persistent subpeak structure in selected modes indicates local symmetry breaking due to cation disorder and lattice anharmonicity, underscoring the importance of crystallographic symmetry analysis for interpreting functional and vibrational properties of ferroelectric perovskite oxides.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
19 pages, 5 figures
This article is under review in Phase Transitions journal in July, 2026, published by Taylor & Francis
Real-Space Imaging of Band Topology via Wavefunction Zeros
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
We prove that the wavefunction of a crystal at a high-symmetry momentum, $ \Psi_{\boldsymbol{k}_\ast}(\boldsymbol{r})$ , has symmetry-enforced zeros at certain positions in the unit cell, using a new invariant fixed uniquely by the symmorphic symmetry representation of the wavefunction. This allows one to infer the topology of an electronic band by probing zeros of the charge density, and in turn to connect scanning tunnelling microscopy to the group representation theory of bandstructure. We apply the theorem to 1H transition metal dichalcogenides, where it detects the obstructed atomic limit of WSe$ _2$ , the Haldane model, where it detects the Chern number modulo three, and the Bernevig-Hughes-Zhang model, where it detects the $ \mathbb{Z}_2$ index. In addition, the zeros have important consequences for interaction effects: in kagome metals, they fix the sublattice structure of Van Hove wavefunctions, and in twisted bilayer graphene, they explain the qualitative interaction-induced reshaping of the flat bands.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Other Condensed Matter (cond-mat.other), Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Mathematical Physics (math-ph)
5 + 56 pages, 5 + 24 figures
Counting Edge Modes with the Higher Berry Curvature: A Bulk Topological Order Parameter for Quantum Spin Chains
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Adam J. McRoberts, Joe Crossley, Chris Hooley, Joe H. Winter
We show that the higher Berry curvature (HBC) can be used to count the gapless edge modes created by an entanglement cut, and thus defines an integer-valued topological order parameter for quantum spin chains. Given an individual spin-chain Hamiltonian, we construct an extending family by interpolating to a reference product Néel state, and show that the integral of the HBC over this extension is equal to the ordinary Berry phase of half of the chain swept out in response to an \textit{infinitesimal} field. It thus counts the spin of the gapless edge modes exposed by the cut, and a change in its integer value signals a phase transition. We illustrate this with several examples: $ S=1/2$ , $ S=1$ , and $ S=3/2$ spin-Peierls chains, which undergo `singlet flop’ transitions between different patterns of dimerisation; the bilinear-biquadratic chain, which clarifies the connection to the strict symmetry-protected topological phases classification; and the staggered $ J_1$ –$ J_2$ chain, which has both nearest-neighbour and third-neighbour patterns of singlets depending on the signs of the interactions.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
10.5 pages, 6 figures
Thermal avalanches in a quasiperiodic XXZ model
New Submission | Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Paolo Molignini, Antonio Štrkalj
We study bath-induced thermalization in the many-body localized XXZ spin chain subjected to a quasiperiodic magnetic field. We engineer a thermal inclusion by setting the field strength in one part of the chain below the localization threshold and analyze thermalization via the avalanche mechanism. To study the nature of such avalanches, we use two complementary observables, namely the two-point connected correlation function and the particle-number entropy. Surprisingly, the correlations alone show no signatures of avalanches. Instead, they display a logarithmic growth of the correlation length throughout the dynamics and predict localization lengths of the local integrals of motion that remain well below the avalanche threshold. In contrast, the particle number entropy shows clear signatures of the thermal avalanche, with the avalanche front progressively propagating deeper into the localized subsystem for sufficiently large baths. The discrepancy between the two observables shows that two-point correlations are unreliable in identifying thermal avalanches in quasiperiodic systems, as opposed to the random case. On one hand, qualitative results are consistent with the analytical predictions of the standard avalanche theory. On the other hand, significant quantitative deviations persist, which could be due to short-range resonances generated by the quasiperiodic potential. Our results suggest that the standard avalanche framework requires revision to account for the short-range correlations of quasiperiodic potentials.
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn), Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas), Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
15 pages, 10 figures, comments are welcome
Ionic Diffusion Properties of Rare-Earth High-Entropy Oxides from a Machine-Learned Interatomic Potential
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Mary Kathleen Caucci, Billy E. Yang, Saeed S.I. Almishal, Jon-Paul Maria, Susan B. Sinnott
Rare-earth high-entropy oxides (RE-HEOs) have emerged as a promising class of functional ceramics for solid-state electrochemical applications due to their chemical complexity, structural tunability, and potential for fast oxygen-ion transport. In this work, we investigate oxygen diffusion in ceria-based RE-HEOs of the form Ce$ _x$ (YLaPrSm)$ _{1-x}$ O$ _{2-\delta}$ using classical molecular dynamics simulations driven by the Crystal Hamiltonian Graph Neural Network (CHGNet) machine-learned interatomic potential. To improve predictive accuracy for lanthanide-containing systems, we benchmark three CHGNet variants, including a fine-tuned r$ ^2$ SCAN-trained model, against targeted density functional theory (DFT) data that explicitly include f-valence electrons. Simulations across temperature, Ce content, oxygen vacancy concentration, and both fluorite and bixbyite structures reveal that oxygen transport in RE-HEOs is governed by the interplay of two factors: the concentration of mobile vacancies and the local cation environment through which they hop. At fixed composition, ionic conductivity exhibits a non-monotonic dependence on vacancy concentration, with optimal diffusion occurring at moderate vacancy levels and reduced mobility at higher concentrations. Increasing Ce content lowers migration activation energies and enhances diffusivity through low-barrier diffusion networks built from Ce-Ce and Ce-Y edges. Analysis of individual oxygen hopping events provides atomistic insight into how local chemical environments and short-range cation ordering govern transport in high-entropy oxides. Overall, this work demonstrates that machine-learned interatomic potentials can resolve composition-structure-transport relationships in chemically complex oxides, and identifies active pathways through which compositional tuning can enhance oxygen-ion conductivity in RE-HEO materials.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Thermal phase slips in superconducting films near the critical current at arbitrary temperatures
New Submission | Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Ivan M. Artemov, Mikhail A. Skvortsov
We develop a theory of thermal phase slips in disordered superconducting films biased near the critical current $ I_c(T)$ . Generalizing recent results obtained close to $ T_c$ , we show that the optimal fluctuation governing the phase-slip barrier in two dimensions satisfies the exactly integrable Boussinesq equation for arbitrary temperatures $ T<T_c$ . Since both the transverse and longitudinal sizes of the optimal nucleus diverge as $ I\to I_c(T)$ , the Usadel equation for quasiparticles in the presence of a slowly varying order parameter can be solved perturbatively using a gradient expansion. The resulting field theory for a complex order parameter is further reduced to the Boussinesq free energy for a single real field, with the coefficients expressed as Matsubara sums over the solutions of the uniform Usadel equation at $ I_c(T)$ . The activation barrier near $ I_c$ has the asymptotic form $ \Delta F(T,I\to I_c) = E(T) (1-I/I_c)^\alpha$ . We calculate $ E(T)$ over the full temperature range for both two-dimensional films ($ \alpha=3/4$ ) and one-dimensional wires ($ \alpha=5/4$ ). For films, the theory is valid within a narrow $ 10%$ window below $ I_c(T)$ , where the saddle-point configuration remains vortex-free. For wires, $ \Delta F(T,I\to I_c)$ provides a good approximation to the activation barrier for all temperatures and currents.
Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
10 pages, 3 figures
Intrinsic single crystals of MnTe altermagnet
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Kim-Khuong Huynh, Michael Anthony Quintero, Martin Klanjšek, Tilen Knaflič, Yuta Ishii, Norimasa Sasabe, Nhu-Quynh T. Phan, Frej Søren Rattenborg, Yuichi Yamasaki, Denis Arčon, Bo Brummerstedt Iversen
We report the synthesis methodology, structure, and intrinsic properties of ultra-high quality single crystals of MnTe, an archetypal altermagnet. The crystals, obtained from self-flux method, are nearly free from crystal imperfections and disproportionate chemical compositions as seen by various investigation methods. In measurements under quasi free-standing configuration minimizing stress induced effects, the crystals exhibit complex and anisotropic domain kinetics in both superheating and supercooling regimes around the altermagnetic transition at $ T_{\mathrm{N}} = 310,\mathrm{K}$ . An Anderson insulating state is observed below $ T_{\mathrm{MI}}\approx 150,\mathrm{K}$ with a carrier density of about $ 1.6\times 10^{17},\mathrm{cm}^{-3}$ , being sharply contrast to metallic states usually seen in Te-deficit samples. Nevertheless, hallmarks of altermagnetism, anomalous Hall effect and X-ray magnetic circular dichroism signal, are robust in this intrinsic limit, however with significantly reduced magnitudes.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
Observation of room temperature intrinsic nonlinear thermoelectric effects in low-dimensional semimetals
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Kurea Nakagawa, Krishnaraajan Sundararajan, Cédric A. Cordero-Silis, Bart J. van Wees, Marcos H.D. Guimarães
Nonreciprocal control of thermoelectric responses offers a promising strategy for next-generation thermal-management and energy-conversion. While nonlinear electrical transport has recently emerged as an intrinsic property of low-symmetry quantum materials, their thermoelectric counterparts have not been demonstrated. Here, exploiting harmonic detection with gradient-reversal techniques, we report intrinsic nonlinear thermoelectric responses up to room temperature in the low-symmetry type-II Weyl semimetals $ T_\mathrm{d}$ -WTe$ _2$ and TaIrTe$ _4$ in the absence of magnetic fields or magnetic materials. We resolve all symmetry-allowed components of the second-order thermoelectric tensor, including the nonlinear Seebeck, nonlinear Nernst, and nonlinear mixed-directional thermoelectric effects and demonstrate that both Berry-curvature-related and scattering-induced contributions govern the different nonlinear thermoelectric responses. Our results show that nonlinear thermoelectricity arises intrinsically from reduced crystal symmetry and that engineering effects related to scattering in these materials provides a versatile platform for exploring higher-order heat-to-charge current conversion beyond the linear response.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
37 pages, 24 figures
Quantifying reticulocyte biomechanics in health and disease
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Zhaojie Chai, Jianlu Zheng, He Li, Ming Dao, George Em Karniadakis
Red blood cell (RBC) populations are mechanically heterogeneous, yet how this shapes transport, clogging, and rheology in confined environments remains unclear. We combine microfluidic microchannel experiments with dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations to study how reticulocyte morphology, deformability, and cell-cell hydrodynamic coupling govern microconfined blood flow, and link these to acute and chronic mountain sickness. Reticulocyte-rich samples show three subtypes (multilobular, cup-shaped, near-discocytic), parameterized (R1-R3) by fitting microchannel transit and shape-under-flow data. Single-cell simulations show that 5-micron microchannels amplify mechanical heterogeneity (R1 transits 30-50% more slowly than softer cells), whereas bending-dominated splenic slits discriminate subtypes by only 10-20%. Pairwise simulations show that a leading cell never lets a follower pass below its own single-cell threshold - so the order-of-magnitude, wake-“unjamming” reduction is absent - but the leader’s compliance shapes crowded single-file passage: a soft reticulocyte leader lowers a trailing stiff cell’s critical passage pressure by ~12% relative to a stiff (sickle-trait) leader and speeds its transit by ~10%. The controlling variable is the single-cell critical pressure gradient Delta_P_c, which rises monotonically with membrane stiffness from control discocytes through reticulocytes to sickle-cell-trait cells. Our simulations reproduce the shear-thinning viscosity of control blood, against which the reported chronic-mountain-sickness hyperviscosity reflects predominantly hematocrit-driven crowding rather than a change in single-cell rheology. These results place benign acclimatization, chronic-mountain-sickness hyperviscosity, and sickle-cell-trait splenic syndrome on a single mechanical axis defined by Delta_P_c relative to the splenic operating pressure.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph), Cell Behavior (q-bio.CB), Quantitative Methods (q-bio.QM), Tissues and Organs (q-bio.TO)
30 pages, 9 figures
Hydrodynamic Memory and Long-Time Tails in Clean Frustrated Magnets
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Yufei Pei, Claudio Castelnovo, Roderich Moessner
In a simple, clean but constrained magnet, we identify a self-interacting random walk with memory. For the motion of a single monopole – a fractionalized quasiparticle in spin ice – this produces a subtle and unusually slow relaxation toward diffusive motion. This is manifested as an algebraic long-time tail in the velocity autocorrelation function, decaying as $ t^{-3/2}$ . At finite monopole density, the interactions between the trails of different monopoles introduce an additional timescale, corresponding to the disruption of a monopole’s memory by other monopoles, and leading to an exponential cutoff of the long-time tail. Our results identify clean frustrated magnets as microscopic platforms for studying self-interacting stochastic processes, hydrodynamic memory, and the emergence of non-Markovian quasiparticle transport from local Markovian dynamics.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
10 pages, 8 figures
Property-Guided Diffusion for Inverse Design of Crystalline Materials
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Sourav Mal, Subhankar Mishra, Prasenjit Sen
Diffusion-based generative models with property guidance have emerged as a promising paradigm for inverse materials design by enabling the generation of crystalline materials with user-specified target properties. However, despite recent advances, the effectiveness of property guidance, its influence on crystallographic symmetry, and the physical viability of generated materials remain poorly understood. To address these questions, we develop a property-guided framework based on the lightweight diffusion model DiffCrysGen using parameter-efficient adapter fine-tuning and classifier-free guidance (CFG). The resulting framework enables efficient multi-property crystal generation while preserving the knowledge learned during unconditional pre-training. Using formation energy together with saturation magnetization and Vickers hardness as representative inverse-design tasks, we systematically investigate the influence of CFG across a broad range of guidance strengths. Increasing the guidance scale progressively steers the generated property distributions toward the prescribed targets while reducing the fraction of lowest-symmetry ($ P1$ ) structures and increasing the proportion of higher-symmetry structures. To evaluate physical viability, generated structures are geometrically prescreened and subsequently validated using a machine-learning interatomic potential (MLIP)-based workflow comprising structural relaxation and thermodynamic, dynamical, and property-specific analyses. The framework identifies thermodynamically and dynamically stable magnetic and mechanically hard materials with overall success rates of 12.3% and 3.9%, respectively. These results establish property-guided DiffCrysGen as an efficient framework for inverse materials design while providing new insights into the role of classifier-free guidance in crystal generation.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
15 pages, 12 figures
Quasi-Two-Dimensional Quantum Antiferromagnetism in the Distorted Honeycomb Compound KCuIn(PO4)2
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
S. Gayen, S. S. Ali, V. K. Singh, B. Koteswararao, S. K. Panda
We investigate the electronic structure and magnetic properties of the distorted honeycomb lattice compound KCuInP2O8 through a combination of experimental measurements, first principles calculations and quantum monte carlo simulations. Density functional theory calculations within the GGA+U framework establishes KCuInP2O8 as an indirect gap insulator with Cu2+ local moments and finite magnetocrystalline anisotropy arising from spin orbit coupling. A microscopic evaluation of magnetic exchange interactions using the magnetic force theorem reveals a pronounced hierarchy of couplings, with the next nearest neighbor interaction dominating over the nearest neighbor exchange, while interlayer couplings remain negligible. This exchange hierarchy naturally maps the system onto weakly coupled antiferromagnetic spin chains embedded in a distorted honeycomb lattice. Motivated by the ab initio estimated exchange interactions, we construct an effective spin half Hamiltonian and investigate its magnetic response using large scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations. The calculated temperature dependent susceptibility and field dependent magnetization quantitatively reproduce the experimental behavior and capture key signatures of low dimensional quantum magnetism, including a broad susceptibility maximum and a field induced saturation at low temperatures. Our results establish KCuInP2O8 as a quasi-two-dimensional quantum antiferromagnet composed of coupled spin chains, providing a consistent theoretical framework that links electronic structure, exchange interactions, and collective magnetic behavior.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
Published in Physica Status Solidi (RRL) - Rapid Research Letters
Physica Status Solidi (RRL) 20, e202600001 (2026)
Effect of Al-Zn alloy wafer grain boundary diffusion on the magnetism and microstructure of sintered NdFeB magnets
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
This study systematically investigates Al-Zn grain boundary diffusion (GBD) treatment on sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets using $ Al_{80}Zn_{20}$ alloy sheets as the diffusion source. The alloy sheets were placed at both ends of cylindrical samples and diffusion-annealed at 900$ ^\circ$ C and 700$ ^\circ$ C for 7 hours under vacuum ($ \leq5\times10^{-3}$ Pa), followed by tempering at 500$ ^\circ$ C for 2 hours. Magnetic measurements show that coercivity increases from 951.5kA/m in the untreated sample to 1158.2kA/m at 900$ ^\circ$ C (a gain of 206.7kA/m, 21.7%) and to 1039.6kA/m at 700$ ^\circ$ C (a gain of 88.1kA/m, 9.3%), while remanence declines modestly from 1282mT to 1256mT after the high-temperature treatment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS), and X-ray diffractometer (XRD) analyses reveal that the 900$ ^\circ$ C treatment produces a thinner, more continuous grain boundary phase and a distinct core-shell structure around the main-phase grains. EDS mapping shows that Al preferentially enriches the shell region of the $ Nd_2Fe_{14}B$ grains, while Zn predominantly resides in the grain boundary phase, where it lowers the melting point of the intergranular phase and improves its fluidity. XRD confirms that no secondary phases are formed, though a slight lattice expansion suggests partial Al substitution for Fe in the main phase. Verified by computational analysis, the coercivity enhancement is attributed to three synergistic factors: improved grain boundary decoupling, the formation of a high-anisotropy shell layer that strengthens domain-wall pinning, and the smoothing of grain edges to suppress reverse-domain nucleation. Overall, the 900$ \circ$ C treatment proves considerably more effective than 700$ \circ$ C, providing a non-heavy-rare-earth pathway for enhancing coercivity in sintered Nd-Fe-B magnets for high-temperature applications.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
Crystallization of pristine cubic ice from liquid at ambient pressure
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Chenwei Zheng, Paul F. Henry, Aasim I. Shaffi, Sanghamitra Mukhopadhyay, Miroslava Novoveska, Milz L. Beaumont, Yidan Wang, Camilla Di Mino, Tom F. Headen, Marta Falkowska, Christopher A. Howard, Adam J. Clancy, Christoph G. Salzmann, Neal T. Skipper
The phase diagram of frozen water is famously rich: to date, over twenty crystalline polymorphs have been identified. Of the low-pressure ‘ice I’ family, hexagonal (Ih) is the principal form on Earth, while cubic (Ic) is much more elusive. Fundamental questions remain open as to whether cubic ice Ic can form directly from the liquid state, its thermodynamic stability and natural occurrence. Here we show that pristine cubic ice Ic can be formed at atmospheric pressure simply by cooling an aqueous solution confined within mesoporous silica. Using primarily neutron scattering, we show unambiguously that under these conditions, cubic ice Ic forms reproducibly and is the only thermodynamically stable crystalline phase of water. The discovery that cubic ice Ic is directly accessible from the liquid state, and stable at atmospheric pressure, strongly suggests that this polymorph plays a much more significant role in natural and synthetic processes than previously thought.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Orbital Embedding and the Physical Definition of Quantum Geometry
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Chang-geun Oh, Shuichi Murakami
The Quantum Geometric Tensor, encompassing the quantum metric and Berry curvature, is a central concept in modern condensed matter physics. However, its standard calculation via $ k$ -derivatives of the Bloch projector conceals a fundamental ambiguity regarding the choice of unit-cell convention, specifically in the treatment of intra-cell orbital positions (i.e., with or without the orbital position $ e^{ikx_\alpha}$ ). We resolve this inconsistency by introducing a convention-independent physical QGT defined via a covariant derivative that explicitly incorporates the full position operator. We demonstrate that this formulation is uniquely mandated by the microscopic derivation of the physical current via the Peierls substitution. Notably, we uncover a leading-order failure in standard $ k \cdot p$ effective theories for systems with bond-ordered gaps, identifying a need for caution in their application. Finally, we propose geometric engineering as a new design paradigm, enabling the independent tuning of geometric responses without altering the energy dispersion.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
3 Figures
Current-induced creation and dynamics of embedded magnetic skyrmion bags
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Yaodong Wu, Jialiang Jiang, Lingyao Kong, Meng Shi, Shouguo Wang, Mingliang Tian, Haifeng Du, Jin Tang
Magnetic skyrmion bags-vortex-like structures hosting multiple skyrmions with tunable topological charge (Q)-hold significant promise for next-generation spintronic computing. However, while their creation using magnetic fields has been demonstrated, their direct electrical generation remains an outstanding challenge. Here, we report the direct current-induced formation and manipulation of embedded skyrmion bags in a FeGe nanoplate under zero magnetic field. Using in-situ Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we capture the transformation of a distorted helical ground state into embedded skyrmion bags with diverse configurations, driven by nanosecond current pulses. Theoretical analysis indicates that this process is driven by the spin-transfer-torque-induced fracture of the helical state. Furthermore, we demonstrate electrically-induced transitions between skyrmion bags of different Q, leading to the stabilization of complex three-dimensional topological structures, including experimental signatures of magnetic monopoles and bobbers. Our work establishes a foundation for all-electrical control of high-Q topological spin textures and topological defects, paving the way for their application in functional spintronic devices.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Nature Communications 2026
Enhanced Curie temperature and room-temperature 50-nm skyrmions achieved in hexagonal ferromagnet Mn5Ge3+x synthesized via a high-pressure method
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Yongsen Zhang, Wei Liu, Meng Shi, Shuisen Zhang, Sheng Qiu, Yaodong Wu, Jialiang Jiang, Huanhuan Zhang, Hui Han, Kang Wang, Dingfu Shao, Zhenfa Zi, Chao Ma, Haifeng Du, Mingliang Tian, Shouguo Wang, Jin Tang
The development of new high-temperature ultrasmall-size skyrmion materials holds immense significance for the promising applications of topological spintronic devices. In this study, we demonstrate that a high-pressure synthesis technique can significantly elevate the Curie temperature of Mn5Ge3+x crystals, from 294 K to 350 K. This enhancement is attributed to the combined effects of lattice contraction and increased Ge content, the conclusion supported by Density Functional Theory calculations. Additionally, our real-space magnetic imaging reveals the stability of dipolar skyrmions with diameters of approximately 50 nm at room temperature. Our micromagnetic simulations closely replicate the diverse experimental topological magnetic textures observed. Furthermore, magnetotransport measurements indicate the potential for the electrical distinction between various topological magnetic textures in skyrmion-based devices. We also report deterministic manipulations on single dipolar skyrmions in confined nanostructures by using in-plane currents. The observation, electrical manipulation, and electrical detection of room-temperature ultrasmall topological magnetic textures underscore the potential of Mn5Ge3+x as a promising platform for spintronic device applications.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Sci. China Phys. Mech. Astron. 69, 247511 (2026)
Ferrimagnetic Skyrmions in a Tetragonal Mn1.9Co0.1Sb Single Crystal at Room Temperature
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Huanhuan Zhang, YaJiao Ke, Weiwei Wang, Lingyao Kong, Lin Chen, Sheng Qiu, Jialiang Jiang, Yongsen Zhang, Youhong Peng, Yaodong Wu, Mingliang Tian, Haifeng Du, Jin Tang
The development of room temperature small-sized ferrimagnetic skyrmion materials is significant for topological spintronic device applications. As a room temperature ferrimagnetic material, the tetragonal Mn1.9Co0.1Sb crystal exhibits multiple phase transitions, including spin reorientation transitions. However, the magnetic spin textures and their evolution mechanisms during magnetic phase transitions in Mn1.9Co0.1Sb crystals remain unexplored. Using Lorentz transmission electron microscopy, we discovered and verified dipolar skyrmion behavior and its magnetic evolution at room temperature. We established a stable phase diagram of magnetic textures as functions of temperature and magnetic field, while also investigating the evolution mechanisms of spin textures across multiple temperature-induced magnetic phase transitions. Through micromagnetic simulations, a ferrimagnetic configuration with in-plane ferromagnetic coupling and interlayer antiferromagnetic arrangement was established, which stands in contrast to synthetic ferrimagnetic/antiferromagnetic systems that exhibit interlayer antiferromagnetic coupling via the Ruderman-Kittel-Kasuya-Yosida (RKKY) interaction. We determined that the intrinsic frequency of ferrimagnetic skyrmions can reach the THz regime due to strong interlayer antiparallel exchange interactions. These findings highlight the diversity of room temperature ferrimagnetic skyrmion regulation behaviors in Mn1.9Co0.1Sb and their dynamic evolution characteristics, opening new avenues for developing novel spintronic devices with enhanced functionalities capable of operating under ambient conditions.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Advanced Functional Materials 36(33)(2026)
Switchable Altermagnetism via Spin-Induced Improper Polarization
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Zhihao Dai, Michele Reticcioli, Wei Ren, Hongjun Xiang, Alessandro Stroppa
Enabling reversible spin-splitting switching in stray-field-free altermagnets is promising for spintronic applications, but currently limited to a narrow class of polar materials. We propose a broader approach based on spin-induced improper polarization in nonpolar dual-sublattice magnets. We demonstrate this mechanism in DyFeO3, where the product of nonpolar Fe and Dy spin modes transforms as an induced polar mode. Density functional theory shows that the relative Dy–Fe spin alignment selects the polarization, while the Fe sublattice controls nonrelativistic spin splitting, thus enabling reversible switching. These results establish spin-induced improper polarization as a route to switchable altermagnetism in nonpolar bulk systems.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Inertial Asynchronous Computation
New Submission | Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Doruk Efe Gökmen, Michel Fruchart, Dmitrii Zendrikov, Giacomo Indiveri, Giulio Biroli, Vincenzo Vitelli
Computation is the controlled evolution of a state. Asynchronous evolutions, where all parts of the state change in their own time without stopping each other, put this control in jeopardy. It is in fact a mystery how natural processes perform asynchronous computations using many units with no global orchestration. Here we demonstrate how collective computational abilities can emerge in asynchronous many-body systems. The key insight is to split the physical “hardware” underlying the computation into two asymmetrically coupled parts, analogous to position and momentum in a harmonic oscillator. The resulting inertia nudges the evolution of the state so that the asynchronous computation proceeds in the right order. By treating our inertial asynchronous computer as a nonequilibrium material, we map out its phase diagram numerically and analytically using a framework we dub loop dynamical mean-field theory. We experimentally demonstrate our approach using analog spiking neuromorphic chips designed to mimic actual neurons in the brain. In addition, we construct software that can run on asynchronous hardware: we denoise movies whose clean versions were never seen during training, an instantiation of the generalization transition underlying modern machine learning. Our results point to a general strategy for reliable, decentralized computation in energy-constrained settings from dynamics self-assembly to cell differentiation.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
Materializing split, mixed, and three-body interactions using rotor-based mechanical hysterons
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Oche T. Ali, Faten A. Al Ardat, Jack Feider, Harry Maakestad, Alex Walk, Zachariah S. Schrecengost, Joseph D. Paulsen
Interacting hysteretic spins are an appealing model for cyclically-driven athermal disordered matter. Because they provide a basis for storing and processing information from their environment, such models are also being pursued as a framework for intelligent matter. Recent proof-of-concept designs have begun to demonstrate the strong, controlled, pairwise interactions that are necessary for this endeavor. But, it is not yet clear what are the limits—practically or fundamentally—on such interactions. Here we build rotor-based mechanical hysterons that extend the generality of their interactions in three ways: (i) splitting the interaction strength based on the hysteron state, (ii) building a non-reciprocal interaction of mixed sign, and (iii) incorporating tunable three-body effects. We access these effects within a simple, replicable design platform, and we rationalize our results. Our work expands the space of behaviors for designed structures that compute on mechanical inputs.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn)
18 pages, 8 figures
Structural stability, electronic structure, and magnetism of the $d^9$ double infinite-layer La$_3$Ni$_2$O$_5$F under chemical pressure and epitaxial strain
New Submission | Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
K. Madani, Q. N. Meier, A. Cano
Nickelate materials exhibit rich electronic properties that can be engineered toward cuprate-like regimes through topotactic and mixed-anion chemistry. Using first-principles calculations, we investigate the newly synthesized double infinite-layer oxyfluoride La$ _3$ Ni$ 2$ O$ 5$ F and its evolution under chemical pressure and epitaxial strain. The calculated phonon spectrum confirms the dynamical stability of the reported double infinite-layer crystal structure. Further, we find a highly two-dimensional cuprate-like Fermi surface dominated by Ni-$ d{x^2-y^2}$ states, with a moderate rare-earth-derived self-doping yielding an effective $ \sim d^{1.2}{x^2-y^2}$ filling. These electronic features remain remarkably robust under both chemical pressure and epitaxial strain. Spin-polarized calculations further reveal an extended manifold of nearly degenerate magnetic configurations with different in-plane and out-of-plane spin arrangements. Compressive strain further enhances this magnetic frustration while leaving the underlying electronic structure largely unchanged. Our results thus identify La$ _3$ Ni$ _2$ O$ _5$ F as a promising cuprate analogue and establish lattice engineering as an effective strategy for fine tuning its electronic and magnetic properties.
Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
8 + 3 pages, 6 + 7 figs
Multiplicity of Stable Attractors in Disordered Neural Models
New Submission | Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Raffaele Marino, Roberto Livi, Antonio Politi
We show how large-deviation statistics allows one to obtain reliable estimates of the multiplicity of stable fixed-points in a model of neural ordinary differential equations previously employed in computational tasks. The result is obtained by developing a suitable perturbative method in the amplitude of the disorder. It turns out that for not-too-large coupling strengths there are no qualitative differences between the symmetric case, when the dynamics is a purely gradient evolution, and the asymmetric case, when limit cycles and chaos can, in principle, arise. The selection of this specific model is dictated by pedagogical reasons, but we are confident that the approach can be extended to other many-degree-of-freedom dynamical models characterized by different classes of random coupling matrices.
Disordered Systems and Neural Networks (cond-mat.dis-nn), Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Artificial Intelligence (cs.AI), Chaotic Dynamics (nlin.CD)
7 pages
Phenomenological geometric ordering in fractional quantum Hall systems
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
The fractional quantum Hall effect (FQHE) is conventionally understood in terms of strongly correlated many-body states and emergent quasiparticles with fractional charge. Here, we propose a complementary phenomenological framework in which impurity-induced geometric correlations within a Landau level contribute to the organization and stability of fractional quantum Hall states. The model considers a two-dimensional electron gas coupled to a correlated distribution of ionized impurities located at a finite distance from the electronic layer. Impurity-induced overlap between displaced Landau orbitals generates coherent guiding-center correlations and an effective splitting of the Landau-level degeneracy into fractional sublevels. Within this framework, the resulting energy spectrum reproduces the principal odd-denominator fractional sequences through the interplay between guiding-center quantization and impurity-induced orbital coherence. An explicit expression for the correlation energy is obtained in terms of the magnetic length, impurity spacing, and impurity-layer separation, providing a direct connection between the proposed mechanism and experimentally controllable heterostructure parameters. The model naturally incorporates the integer quantum Hall regime as the limiting case of vanishing correlation-induced splitting. Within this geometric picture, effective fractional factors emerge from collective orbital coherence and correlation-modified guiding-center dynamics rather than being uniquely associated with independent fractionally charged quasiparticles. Although the model does not attempt to derive topological order, anyonic statistics, or many-body incompressibility, it suggests that impurity-induced geometry and guiding-center coherence may provide an additional contribution to the emergence, stability, and experimental visibility of fractional quantum Hall states.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
21 pages, 3 figures
Quantitative Analysis of Composition and Contamination of Atomically Thin Materials by Recoil-Projectile Coincidence in Ion Transmission
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Carolin Frank, Kevin Vomschee, Tuan Thien Tran, Barbara Maria Mayer, Radek Holeňák, Yossarian Liebsch, E. Harriet Åhlgren, Marika Schleberger, Daniel Primetzhofer
Surface contamination strongly affects the intrinsic properties of nanoscale materials, making its reliable identification and quantification crucial for both accurate experimental interpretation and nanofabrication. Although scanning transmission electron microscopy can resolve contaminants at atomic resolution within nanometer-scale regions, it cannot easily provide a quantitative, large-area contamination measure. Here, we introduce a minimally destructive recoil-projectile coincidence method for ion transmission experiments that enables element-specific identification and quantification of surface contaminants with isotopic resolution. We demonstrate this approach by comparing self-supporting graphene samples prepared using either a polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)-based or a PMMA-free transfer process. Carbon and hydrogen are identified as the dominant surface contaminants. PMMA-free transferred graphene exhibits the lowest native contamination levels. Following in-situ thermal annealing at 400 °C for 1 h, the measured carbon areal density approaches the value expected for atomically clean single-layer graphene within the experimental uncertainty, while hydrogen coverage is strongly reduced. Unlike PMMA-transferred graphene, which rapidly recontaminates after annealing, PMMA-free transferred graphene remains nearly contamination-free for at least 140 min under ultra-high vacuum conditions ($ p_{\mathrm{base}} = 2 \times 10^{-8}$ mbar). Beyond graphene, the presented method establishes a quantitative characterization platform for ultrathin materials, enabling studies of surface cleanliness, adsorption, implantation and surface interaction dynamics in such systems.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
18 pages, 5 figures
Accelerating grain boundary modelling and simulation by automated pre-evaluation of the irreducible macroscopic representation
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
A major challenge in the modelling and simulation of grain boundaries (GBs) is the conflict between the system size and computation capability, which inherently restricts the computationally accessible boundary characters. We present an algorithm to find the irreducible macroscopic representation of any given coincident-site-lattice GB character in the cubic lattice, and thus determine the irreducible size of its supercell. The algorithm is compared with the conventional orthogonal supercell and a published calculation method to assess its merits in saving computational resources. This supercell size parameter can be used to predict which GB character is relatively special across the vast 5D space, as those GBs possess small structural units are likely to exhibit particular structure-property relationships that are worthy of attention. The prediction is confirmed by examining the energy and mobility trends of aluminum mixed GBs obtained from the atomistic simulations.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
12 pages, 3 figures, 1 table
Fractional parametric resonance in spintronic diodes
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Andrea Grimaldi, Denys Slobodianiuk, Eleonora Raimondo, Raghav Sharma, Anna Giordano, Mario Carpentieri, Hyunsoo Yang, Riccardo Tomasello, Roman Verba, Giovanni Finocchio
Parametric pumping is a powerful tool for the excitation, amplification, and processing of oscillations and waves of different nature. In general, parametric resonance can occur when the pumping frequency $ f_p$ and eigenfrequency of a linear mode (or wave) $ f_0$ satisfy the relation $ f_p$ =2$ f_0$ /n (n=1,2,3,…). While such parametric resonance is well known in mechanical, superconductive, and quantum systems, in magnetic and spintronic systems only the lowest (n=1) parametric resonance at double the spin wave mode frequency $ f_p$ =2$ f_0$ was thoroughly studied and explored. Here, using a theoretical analysis based on both micromagnetic simulations and an analytical model, we show the emergence of resonances at fractional frequencies $ f_p$ =2$ f_0$ /n (with n>10) in spintronic diodes driven by the simultaneous action of ac spin-transfer torque (STT, current densities < $ 10^6$ A/cm2) and voltage-controlled magnetic anisotropy (VCMA, effective anisotropy fields < 50 mT). The analytical model shows that parametric magnetization dynamics is irreducible to the standard Mathieu model of a parametric oscillator and demonstrates the crucial role of VCMA-driven mode frequency modulation: together with parametric coupling, it results in higher-order odd (n=3,5,7,…) fractional resonances, observed above certain VCMA pumping threshold, while simultaneous action with linear STT drive produces thresholdless even (n=4,6,8,…) resonances. This higher-order parametric dynamics is not restricted to VCMA pumping and opens new directions for the application of spintronic diodes for nonlinear signal processing and electromagnetic energy harvesting.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
Geometric Renormalization and a Chirality Threshold in Recursively Coiled Filaments
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Repeated coiling creates a filament hierarchy. We formulate helicalization as an iterated map acting on an arbitrary rod compliance, rather than homogenizing one prescribed construction. A marginal Jordan mode yields an outer-radius inverse-square stiffness class, while pitch disorder creates a Lyapunov threshold between amplified and screened extension–twist response. An exact finite-level rate distinguishes representative amplified and screened cases by level three; direct three-dimensional beam calculations validate the response through level four and convergence through level five.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Classical Physics (physics.class-ph)
6 pages, 3 figures; 10-page Supplemental Material included as an ancillary file
Levitated nano-trampoline resonators for magnetic field sensing
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Xianfeng Chen, Nirmala Raj, Matthew R. Chua, Yi Fan Chen, Chenyue Gu, Minxing Xu, Young-Wook Cho, Syed M. Assad, Lu Ding, Ping Koy Lam
Levitated systems and high-$ Q$ membrane nanomechanical resonators have achieved exceptional sensitivity in precision sensing, but functionalizing such resonators for practical applications without degrading their low dissipation remains challenging. Here, we combine diamagnetic levitation with a high-$ Q$ nanomechanical resonator to realize a high-precision magnetometer for sensing weak oscillating magnetic fields. A macroscopic diamagnetically levitated graphite plate acts as a free-floating proof mass that couples strongly to magnetic fields, converting them into mechanical motion that is resonantly amplified by a low-dissipation nano-trampoline resonator. Operating at room temperature and without magnetic shielding, we achieve a peak magnetic-field sensitivity of $ 4.5, \mathrm{pT}/\sqrt{\mathrm{Hz}}$ using a resonator with a mechanical quality factor of $ Q=6\times10^{6}$ at $ 443, \mathrm{kHz}$ . The system sensitivity is limited by thermomechanical noise. With further improvements in mechanical $ Q$ , this hybrid levitated platform offers a pathway toward femtotesla-level AC magnetic-field sensing, establishing diamagnetically levitated nanomechanical resonators as a new class of high-sensitivity magnetometers at room temperature.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Applied Physics (physics.app-ph)
16 pages, 13 figures
Mechanical mapping of thin elastic films and living cells with spherical tip atomic force microscopy probes at large indentations
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Gabriel Gomila, Mauricio Cano, Beatriz Cantero, Sophie Strawbridge, Lara Aiassa, Loris Rizzello, Giuseppe Battaglia, Eleni Dalaka, Jordi Comelles, Annalisa Calò
An analytical model to quantify large indentation force curves acquired on elastic thin films and living cells with spherical tip Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) probes is presented. The model accounts for the bottom effect in the whole indentation range and overcomes the limitations of Sneddon’s and Hertz’s contact models, which are valid for semi-infinite thick samples, and of paraboloid tip models with bottom effect correction (BEC) that are applicable to spherical tips only for relatively small indentations. The model is experimentally validated with force volume measurements on polyacrylamide (PAA) hydrogel thin films, where an excellent agreement is obtained. The accurate correction of the bottom effect demonstrates that the intrinsic Young’s modulus of PAA thin films increases for thickness below a critical value (15 um). The model also shows excellent agreement with force curves acquired on live macrophages, providing accurate Young’s modulus values for these very soft cells (E200 Pa). Young’s modulus values extracted with the proposed model significantly differ from those obtained from Sneddon’s or paraboloid models with BEC, whose values deviate by 100% and -25%, respectively. Results show the potential of the proposed model for analysing force curve measurements with spherical tips at large indentations on thin film elastic materials and living cells at the micro and nanoscale.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft)
GHz non-reciprocal optical conductivity in hematite ($α$-$\text{Fe}_2\text{O}_3$)
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Peng Rao, Johannes Gröbmeyer, P. Peter Stavropoulos, Alexander Mook, Matthias Althammer, Hans Huebl, Alexander Holleitner, Johannes Knolle
We study the non-reciprocal properties of the iron oxide $ \alpha$ -Fe$ _2$ O$ _3$ (hematite) in the canted easy-plane antiferromagnetic phase, specifically in the GHz to THz frequency range. First, using the the microscopic spin Hamiltonian, we obtain the correct classical ground state where the canting is induced by the Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya interactions (DMI). The magnon spectrum is simulated using linear spin wave theory. We then compute the polarizability and the sub-gap optical conductivities using linear response. We find that the conductivity tensor contains frequency peaks at the zero momentum magnon gaps of order $ 0.1~$ meV which can be tuned by the DMI and on-site anisotropic spin interactions. Furthermore, we show that the canting-induced net magnetic moment $ \mathbf{m}$ represents a measure for the effective time-reversal-symmetry breaking and non-reciprocity of the system: a finite $ \mathbf{m}$ results in a non-zero Hall conductivity. Finally, we discuss the prospective application of hematite in non-reciprocal circulator design, by computing the non-reciprocal circulator transmission amplitude using the conductivities as input.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
10 pages, 7 figures
From Amorphous to Amorphous-Crystalline Mixed-Phase Boron Nitride: Evolution of the Thermal and Elastic Properties
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Jiaqi Yang, Thomas Souvignet, Onurcan Kaya, Peng Xiao, Emigdio Chavez-Angel, Daniel Capolat Palomar, Zuzanna Ewa Kaczmarska, Bartlomiej Graczykowski, Javier Rodriguez Viejo, Clivia M. Sotomayor Torres, Catherine Marichy, Catherine Journet, Stephan Roche, Marianna Sledzinska
Amorphous boron nitride (aBN) is a promising dielectric and protective coating, yet its nanoscale heat dissipation and elastic response remain poorly quantified. Here we synthesize a variety of BN thin films by borazine-based chemical vapor deposition (800-1000 C) and study the temperature-driven structural transition from fully amorphous networks to mixed amorphous-crystalline films with embedded BN this http URL-domain thermoreflectance data show an ultralow, thickness-dependent cross-plane thermal conductivity for aBN (kout < 0.5 W m-1 K-1 for 10-40 nm), which increases systematically with crystalline order up to 1.5 W m-1 K-1. Micro-Brillouin light scattering and finite-element modelling reveal a concomitant stiffening, with Young’s modulus rising from 7.5 +/- 0.7 GPa (800 C) to 53 +/- 5 GPa (1000 C). Green-Kubo molecular dynamics simulations rationalize these trends via bonding topology and vibrational transport, and highlight how oxygen, hydrogen and carbon impurities and composition provide practical knobs to further tune the thermal and mechanical responses in BN films for improving nano-electronics, interconnects and coating applications.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
An Experimental Scheme for Testing Molecular Rectification with Only Micrometer-Scale Fabrication Requirements
New Submission | Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
In our previous work, we proposed a theoretical model capable of inducing sustained directed transport without consuming information or external energy. However, the experimental verification schemes proposed previously were technically challenging, and the model has therefore not yet been experimentally tested. In this work, we propose a greatly simplified experimental design. By introducing hydrophilic functional groups onto the tip of a gold needle through surface modification and pressing the needle against one of two liquid-vapor interfaces, the compressed interface is maintained at a higher ionic concentration than the other interface, thereby sustaining a concentration difference between them. This design reduces the fabrication requirement from the nanometer scale to the micrometer scale, substantially lowering experimental complexity and facilitating experimental examination of the proposed mechanism.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
Identifying the signatures of residual activity in harmonically bound active Brownian dynamics
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
A confined self-propelled particle exhibits a range of intriguing dynamical phenomena dictated by the interplay between the intrinsic activity of the particle and the imposed confinement. This competition manifests as a crossover in the steady-state position distribution of a harmonically bound active Brownian particle (HBABP) from Boltzmann-like to bimodal, commonly recognized as the passive and active regimes, respectively, upon variations in activity and confinement strength. We present a comprehensive analysis of the resultant dynamics of an HBABP employing analytical calculations and numerical simulations, examining the variations in the position distribution, residual or resultant velocity, mean square displacement, power spectral density, and effective harmonic confinement at varying activities in the characteristic regimes across the crossover. These analyses provide a reliable identification of the signature of residual or remnant activity in ABP dynamics after being impeded by the harmonic confinement. Our results show that the resultant HBABP dynamics in the regime with a Boltzmann-like position distribution is dominated by residual activity, and the motion in the other regime, with a bimodal position distribution, is similar to that of a harmonically bound Brownian particle–devoid of residual activity–at a displaced position, where the activity is balanced by the restoring force field.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
19 pages, 11 figures
Quantum transport in Cooper pair splitters using hierarchical equations of motion
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Riya Baruah, Neill Lambert, Franco Nori, Christian Flindt
We investigate charge transport in Cooper pair splitters beyond the weak-coupling and Markovian limits. To this end, we employ hierarchical equations of motion (HEOM), which can capture the combined effects of strong coupling to the leads, nonperturbative interactions, and finite voltage and temperature differences. Within this framework, we compute the electric currents as functions of the level positions of a Cooper pair splitter for various voltage and temperature configurations. In the large-bias regime, our results reduce to analytical expressions obtained from a Markovian Lindblad equation. However, recent experiments were conducted with finite voltage or temperature differences, where a Markovian description may not suffice. In this regime, HEOM yield quantitative agreement with the measured currents. We can also account for an experimentally observed thermoelectric effect in Cooper pair splitters. Our results show that HEOM provide a useful framework for describing nonequilibrium quantum transport in Cooper pair splitters and related hybrid devices.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall)
12 pages, 9 figures
Fermions on a 1D lattice: localized sources and sinks with dephasing
New Submission | Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Elka Bhattacharya, Sushant Saryal, Soumya Ghosh, Kabir Ramola
We study a general one-dimensional spinless fermionic system subject to a localized source, sink, and bulk dephasing. Within the Lindblad framework, we compute the time evolution of the density profile and spatial correlation functions. We find that the presence of bulk dephasing suppresses certain coherent quantum features, such as the Friedel oscillations, and it alters the transport dynamics to exhibit two distinct dynamical regimes instead of three as observed in the absence of dephasing. This effect can be understood as the destruction of ballistic motion caused by the dephasing noise. Under strong dephasing, the density profile becomes similar to the one expected for a classical diffusive regime. We also investigate the system in the presence of both a localized source and sink, placed at a distance of $ \Delta$ . Interestingly, quantum coherence generates secondary density peaks at integer multiples of the source-sink separation $ \Delta$ , which are systematically washed out as bulk dephasing drives the system toward the classical diffusive limit.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
Turbulence in Quantum Gases: Vortices, Waves, and Cascades
New Submission | Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Ashton S. Bradley, Tyler W. Neely, Xiaoquan Yu, Brian P. Anderson
We review turbulence in ultracold quantum gases, using the scalar contact-interaction Bose-Einstein condensate as the reference system for quantized circulation, compressibility, vortices, sound, and cascades. We focus on the quantitative diagnostics that connect helium and classical phenomenology to microscopic wave-function dynamics: incompressible and compressible kinetic-energy spectra, wave-occupation spectra, spectral fluxes, vortex-resolved correlations, and velocity statistics. These diagnostics distinguish equilibrium vortex organization, decaying turbulent relaxation, forced cascade dynamics, and weak-wave turbulence, and show why power laws alone are insufficient evidence for a cascade. We survey experiments on two-dimensional Onsager clustering, three-dimensional vortex-line turbulence, box-trap wave cascades, engineered dissipation, and turbulent equations of state. We close by briefly placing the contact-interaction scalar superfluid system in a broader landscape of nonlocal, multicomponent, fermionic, and driven-dissipative quantum fluids, where turbulence concepts can be tested for universality.
Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas), Atomic Physics (physics.atom-ph), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
This preprint will appear as a chapter in the Springer book entitled Short and Long Range Quantum Atomic Platforms - Theoretical and Experimental Developments (provisional title), edited by P. G. Kevrekidis, C. L. Hung, and S. I. Mistakidis
Zero-field magnetic structure of the antiferromagnetic metal EuSnP
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Mizuki Urai, Hiraku Saito, Daisuke Nishio-Hamane, Taro Nakajima, Rina Takagi
We investigated the zero-field magnetic structure of the antiferromagnetic metal EuSnP through single-crystal neutron diffraction experiments. The magnetic propagation vector in the magnetically ordered phase was determined to be $ (0,0,1/2)$ , indicating that commensurate antiferromagnetic ordering is realized in this material. The detailed magnetic structure analysis revealed a collinear A-type antiferromagnetic structure with ferromagnetic alignment of Eu$ ^{2+}$ moments within the Eu–P layer. The present findings provide a microscopic basis for understanding the intriguing magnetic behaviors of EuSnP, as exemplified by the multiple metamagnetic transitions in the antiferromagnetic state and the strong pressure dependence of the magnetic transition temperature.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
7 pages, 4 figures
Composition Anisotropy Drives Large Bulk Photovoltaic Fields Along the Non-polar Vertical Direction in 2D Hybrid Perovskite Ferroelectrics
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Yuzhong Hu, Andrii Shcherbakov, Jonathan Zerhoch, Lars Schneider, Shangpu Liu, Xitao Liu, Fangping Zhuo, Lovro Fulanovic, Felix Deschler, Martijn Kemerink
The photovoltaic electric field of the bulk photovoltaic effect (BPE) reflects the intrinsic ability of ferroelectrics to separate photoexcited excitons into electrons and holes, and are essential parameters for applications such as voltage-readout photodetectors. Because polarization defines the cation-anion displacement and noncentrosymmetric axis, the polar direction is generally one of the orientations exhibiting strong bulk photovoltaic field (EBPE). Here, we report emergent BPE behavior in 2D hybrid perovskite ferroelectrics (HPFs), where EBPE can be two orders of magnitude higher along the vertical nonpolar direction than along the polar in-plane direction. Its magnitude is up to orders of magnitude higher than that of benchmark photoferroelectrics across different material systems and is the highest among 2D HPFs reported so far. This strong BPE response with emergent directional anisotropy originates from the unique coupling among the shift-current BPE mechanism, an efficient photocarrier-generating inorganic part, and an insulator-like organic part, a combination that is conflicting or inaccessible in traditional photoferroelectrics. This composition and anisotropy also produce basic BPE behavior distinct from that of typical photoferroelectrics, including a laser intensity dependent photovoltage and a nonlinear scaling of photovoltage with material dimension. We analyze and develop a series of formulas to describe the emergent photovoltage phenomena, which should be applicable to this novel 2D ferroelectrics family and to polar systems with similar anisotropy and robust photoelectric response.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
SAGE-Net: Semantics-Augmented Geometric Encoder for Material Property Prediction
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Guanghui Zhang, Yuxuan Yao, Kieran B. Spooner, Jun Yin, Dan Han, David O. Scanlon, Lijun Zhang
Reliable structure-property modeling is crucial for accelerating materials discovery, where crystal graphs and structure-derived crystallographic descriptions provide complementary geometric and semantic information. Existing multimodal materials models primarily incorporate textual information through post-encoding fusion, latent-space alignment, or attention-based representation interaction mechanisms. However, in most cases, crystallographic semantics are introduced after structural encoding and therefore cannot directly guide the formation of atom-level crystal-graph representations. Here, we present Semantics-Augmented Geometric Encoder Network (SAGE-Net), a flexible multimodal framework that injects description-derived chemical and crystallographic semantics into geometric message passing. SAGE-Net introduces Semantic-Guided Message Passing (SGMP), which gates atom-level updates and enables crystallographic semantics to directly modulate local geometric interactions across multiple graph neural network (GNN) backbones. Across benchmarks covering bandgap, mechanical, transport-related properties, and synthesizability assessment, the SAGE-Net instantiated with different GNN backbones achieves the lowest MAE on eight out of ten JARVIS-DFT regression targets and delivers strong or highly competitive performance against both structure-based and multimodal baselines. For synthesizability assessment, the SAGE-Net demonstrate outstanding classification performance and high recall rates. Interpretability analysis unravels that SAGE-Net effectively captures physically interpretable crystallographic features, viz. space group, dimensionality, polyhedral environments, among others. Together, these results demonstrate SGMP-based SAGE-Net as a general and transferable framework for deeply integrated multimodal materials learning.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
29 pages, 5 figures, multi-modal network
Unbiased Diffusion Monte Carlo for non local operators
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Carlos Rodriguez Perez, Valerio Olevano, Francesco Sottile, Vitaly Gorelov
We propose a new mathematically exact method for computing unbiased Diffusion Monte Carlo (DMC) estimates of non-local operators. We demonstrate that the current state-of- the-art technique, Forward Walking, is only exact for local quantities and fails to yield unbiased results for the non-local components of reduced density matrices (RDMs). Our method significantly outperforms Forward Walking, as shown in two systems: in the symmetric Hubbard dimer it yields a pure 1RDM; while in the Helium atom it will give an unbiased 1RDM in the limits of zero time step and infinite walkers.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Computational Physics (physics.comp-ph)
14 pages, 5 figures
When Can a Cavity Move a Mott Transition? A Spectral-Density Criterion within Gutzwiller Theory
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Nikhil Vamsodharakan Seshadri, Yu Zhang
Can vacuum electromagnetic fluctuations shift a bulk Mott transition? Within the Gutzwiller variational method, we derive a criterion that separates collective spectroscopic hybridization from thermodynamic phase control. We show that a Mott transition shifts only when the electromagnetic environment supplies finite thermodynamic spectral weight with bond-scale variation. A joint frequency–spatial Pauli–Fierz density gives the leading shift. Surface phonon polaritons yield a $ d^{-3}$ -to-$ d^{-5}$ crossover, while finite-coordination variational Monte Carlo supports the predicted critical coefficient and $ M/N$ scaling.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
Understanding interaction-driven transport in flux lattices with evolution-path symmetry
New Submission | Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Jian-Song Pan, Xiaofan Zhou, Wei Yi
The destruction of Aharonov-Bohm (AB) caging by interaction and the emergence of interaction-induced chiral currents in flux lattices are two paradigmatic examples of interaction-driven quantum transport. While various mechanisms, such as bound-state formation and chiral spectral imbalance, have been proposed, a unifying physical picture remains elusive. Here, we employ the concept of \textit{evolution-path symmetry} (EPS) and its interaction-induced breaking as a framework to understand interaction-induced delocalization in flux lattices. EPS is defined as the invariance of a path’s contribution under combined geometric and phase transformations. We demonstrate that in a $ \pi$ -flux rhombic lattice, interactions break the EPS present in the non-interacting limit by modifying the phase accumulation of many-body paths, thereby lifting the destructive interference responsible for AB caging. Furthermore, we apply this framework to explain interaction-induced chiral transport in flux ladders, where interactions break the phase relationship between symmetric paths, leading to a non-vanishing chiral current. Our work establishes EPS as a powerful tool for understanding transport phenomena beyond conventional eigenstate analysis.
Quantum Gases (cond-mat.quant-gas), Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
12 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Physical Review A
Substrate-metal interface engineering enhances TaN/Ta thin film superconducting resonator performance
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Moritz Singer, Harsh Gupta, Benedikt Schoof, Elena Willinger, Anton Orekhov, Alexandra Schewski, Samuil Kostadinov, Philip Constantin Schneider, Marc Tornow
Tantalum has been demonstrated as a promising material for superconducting qubits. However, comparatively little attention has been given to its nitrides. Tantalum nitride exhibits a range of stoichiometries, resulting in a variety of material properties, including both superconducting and non-superconducting phases. Owing to this versatility, tantalum nitrides can serve multiple purposes in superconducting qubits: as seed layers for alpha-Ta growth, as a superconducting base material and as a non-superconducting barrier in the Josephson junction. In this study, we explore the performance of superconducting TaN and Ta thin film combinations on silicon substrates in terms of internal quality factor Qi. We find that standalone TaN films exhibit Qi values of about 1.5x10^5 at 100mK in the single-photon regime. Surprisingly, a resonator made from Ta grown on a few-nanometers-thick TaN seed layer yields largely the same performance. However, adding an additional, few-nanometers-thick Ta buffer layer between the Si substrate and this TaN seed layer enhances Qi significantly up to 5.9x10^5. Supporting transmission electron microscopy measurements reveal nitrogen accumulation and structural disorder at the TaN-Si interface, while this interfacial modification is suppressed when the Ta buffer layer is introduced. The observed improvement in resonator performance is consistent with a reduction of interface-related two-level system losses and strongly supports the hypothesis that controlling the substrate-metal interface is pivotal for the performance of superconducting qubit circuitry.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
Unconventional $\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2$ topological order in the kagome XY toric code
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
C. Kölbl, M. Vieweg, K.P. Schmidt
We investigate the quantum phase diagram of the XY toric code (XYTC) on the kagome lattice consisting of $ XY$ hexagonal and triangular plaquette operators and conserved star operators. We demonstrate analytically by exploiting an exact local $ \mathbb{Z}_2$ -symmetry on dodecagons that the kagome XYTC realizes a $ \mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2\times\mathbb{Z}_2$ topologically ordered phase in the limit of large hexagonal \mbox{plaquette} operators. This unconventional topological phase involves 64 quasi-particles - Abelian anyons - with restricted mobility on three colored sublattices establishing a quantum dimension of eight. The large number of topological superselection sectors originates from six independent Wilson loop operators, acting as emergent one-form symmetries. The resulting anyon structure is richer than that of established topological codes like the toric and the color code. A corresponding CSS topological stabilizer code is formulated, opening novel possibilities for the encoding and manipulation of topological quantum information.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
11 pages, 6 figures
Hidden Truchet Architecture in Zinc $p$-Hydroxybenzoate
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Hunter J. Windsor, Guy Greenbaum, Tristan N. Dolling, Yevheniia Kholina, Andrew L. Goodwin
We redetermine the structure of the disordered metal-organic framework Zn(hba) (hba$ ^{2-}$ = the dianion of 4-hydroxybenzoic acid). Using single-crystal X-ray diffraction measurements, we characterise the structured diffuse scattering that is experimentally observed for this material and which is characteristic of strongly correlated disorder. We use geometric and crystal chemical arguments to propose a general model for correlated disorder in Zn(hba), and then relate this model to a specific realisation of so-called Truchet tilings. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we proceed to show that the model so developed is simultaneously consistent with both the average crystal structure solution described previously, and the structured diffuse scattering reported here. The existence of ordered analogues with different, but related, chemistry suggests scope for control over correlated disorder in this family of metal-organic frameworks. Our study illustrates the potential for a Truchet-tile formalism to help describe and understand more generally the correlated disorder that occurs in framework materials - even amongst those that are chemically and crystallographically dissimilar.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Charge-Density-Wave Phase Transitions in Monolayer 1T-TaS2 from Universal Machine Learning Molecular Dynamics
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Valentina Nesterova, Tribhuwan Pandey, Tom Berlijn, Fariborz Kargar, Lucas Lindsay, Konstantin Klyukin
Charge-density-wave (CDW) phases in 1T transition-metal dichalcogenides arise from strong electron-phonon coupling and accompanying lattice instabilities. Capturing their temperature-dependent structural evolution using conventional first-principles molecular dynamics (MD) remains challenging because of the large supercells and extensive finite-temperature sampling required. Here, we combine density functional theory (DFT), universal machine-learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs), MD, and temperature-dependent effective potential phonon calculations to investigate the structural and vibrational signatures of CDW transitions in monolayer 1T-TaS2. Benchmarking against DFT displacement energies identifies UMA-s-1p1 universal machine learning potentials with sufficient accuracy for subsequent finite-temperature simulations. Our results show that large-scale MD simulations reproduce the experimentally observed phase transition sequence from the low-temperature Star-of-David (SoD) distorted structure to the high-temperature primitive hexagonal structure, as quantified by the number of Ta atoms attributed to SoDs. Heating-cooling cycles exhibit thermal hysteresis, and upon cooling, the system freezes into a multi-domain state in which {\alpha} and \b{eta} CDW chiralities nucleate independently and persist to the lowest temperatures. These findings demonstrate that carefully benchmarked universal MLIPs can provide a scalable framework for finite-temperature studies of CDW materials.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Magnetic proximity-induced non-relativistic valley polarization
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Weifeng Xie, Yongqi Chen, Yiboyang Sun, Xiong Xu, Yunliang Yue, Hui Wang
The magnetic proximity effect in van der Waals heterostructures exerts a significant impact on the properties of adjacent materials. Here, we propose van der Waals heterostructures composed of monolayers ferromagnets (FM) and altermagnets (AM), in which the magnetic proximity effect from the FM induces pronounced non-relativistic valley polarization in the AM, and this phenomenon is demonstrated to be universal. Furthermore, by tuning the magnetization of the FM and the Néel vector direction of the AM, four independent valley-polarized states can be realized in the FM/AM heterostructures, exhibiting strong magnetic-valley coupling. These findings suggest that FM/AM heterostructures hold potential application value in the field of valleytronics-based information storage.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
Mechanisms of Microstructural Evolution and Degradation in Aluminum under High-Damage Irradiation
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Alhassan S. Issaka, Sadie Wicks, Vishal Yadav, Assel Aitkaliyeva, Michael R. Tonks, Simon R. Phillpot
Aluminum alloys are widely used in research reactor systems, yet the mechanisms governing irradiation-induced degradation remain poorly understood. Here we combine conventional cascade-overlap molecular dynamics simulations with an accelerated Iterative Kinetic Approach (IKA) to investigate defect evolution in single-crystal Al subjected to 50 keV He irradiation. Benchmarking shows that IKA reproduces the essential defect kinetics of cascade simulations while enabling access to substantially higher accumulated damage. By extending the IKA to higher damage levels, we identified three distinct regimes governing radiation-induced degradation in Al: recombination-driven annihilation, defect accumulation, and sink-controlled absorption. At higher damage, Frank loops dissociate into Shockley partials and stair-rod loops, ultimately driving the nucleation and growth of stacking-fault tetrahedra (SFTs). These transformations progressively convert mobile defects into SFTs. Ultimately, the synergistic effect of interstitial and vacancy loops and SFTs increases irradiation hardening in Al at 300 K. This work provides insight into irradiation-induced degradation in aluminum reactor materials.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
54 pages, 16 Figures
Pulsatile poromechanics in layered soft media controls fluid flow and solute transport: from fundamentals to brain clearance
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Matilde Fiori, Sylvie Lorthois
Soft porous media often feature a heterogeneous structure. Notably, biological tissues - such as cartilage and the brain tissue - consist of two or more layers, with varying mechanical and fluid-flow properties. Despite the ubiquity of periodic loading in these systems, the physical implications of layering on nonlinear poromechanics and solute transport remain poorly understood. Uncovering these coupled mechanisms could clarify the fundamental physics behind pressing topics, such as brain metabolic clearance. Here, we address this gap using a bilayer model of a generic soft porous medium. To isolate the specific role of layering, we select combinations of material properties (porosity, permeability, and p-wave modulus) that maintain an identical poroelastic timescale, $ T_{\mathrm{PE}}$ , across four layered configurations and a reference homogeneous case. We demonstrate that while $ T_\mathrm{PE}$ is the key parameter governing the response in a homogeneous medium, the same $ T_\mathrm{PE}$ leads to non-trivial localization/propagation patterns for strain, fluid flow and solute transport in a bilayer medium. These non-intuitive results suggest that layered architectures may provide functional benefits for cellular homeostasis over homogeneous ones. Finally, we show that pathological alterations to the brain’s layered structure significantly disrupt fluid-flow and metabolic waste clearance, offering a possible mechanical explanation for impaired transport in disease.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
20 pages, 5 figure. Submitted to Physical Review E
Effects of long-chain branching, short-chain branching, and polydispersity on pressure sensitive rheology of polymer melts
New Submission | Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Lilian Lin, Matthew Joe, Heon E. Park
The rheological behavior of polymer melts under high pressure is a critical factor in many industrial processes like injection molding and extrusion, yet it is often inadequately characterized. At operating pressures that can exceed 100 MPa, viscosity can increase by orders of magnitude, making atmospheric-pressure data insufficient for accurate process simulation. This pressure induced viscosity increase is highly dependent on molecular architectures of the materials. This study aims to deconstruct the influence of specific structural features such as short-chain branching (SCB), long-chain branching (LCB), and polydispersity on the pressure sensitivity of the viscosity of polyethylene. Utilizing a high-pressure sliding plate rheometer (HPSPR) to ensure accurate measurements under uniform shear and pressure, we characterized four distinct polyethylene melts. All samples, regardless of their structure, exhibited piezorheologically simple behavior, allowing the application of time-pressure superposition over the entire shear rate range. A key finding is that the long-chain branched sample, known from the literature to be thermorheologically complex, was found to be piezorheologically simple. This dichotomy is explained by the different physical mechanisms of temperature and pressure. The pressure sensitivity of the viscosity, quantified by the pressure-viscosity coefficient, was found to be strongly dependent on molecular branching. Both SCB and LCB significantly increase the pressure sensitivity while polydispersity had a negligible effect. These results demonstrate that molecular branches are the dominant structural parameter controlling the rheological response of polyethylene to pressure, providing crucial insights for the development of more accurate predictive models for high-pressure polymer processing.
Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Fluid Dynamics (physics.flu-dyn)
Published in Transport Phenomena; 19 pages; 7 figures
Transport Phenomena 2026; 1(1): 20260007
Reversible photo-switching optical functionality in two-dimensional mixed-halide hybrid perovskites
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Enamul Haque, Wenxin Mao, Javier Cerrillo
Ion migration in halide perovskites is often associated with defects, irreversible processes, and structural instability, making them largely impractical for photo-switching applications. Here, we demonstrate a physical mechanism for reversible, defect-free light-induced halide-ion swapping in two-dimensional mixed-halide perovskites. We find that the halide-ion swapping process arises from strong light-lattice coupling rather than defects. By combining nudged elastic band and photo-force calculations, we show that photo-induced forces perform non-equilibrium work that drives halide ions along the halide-exchange path without reaching the fully swapped configuration. Thus, the cumulative light-induced work can only partially overcome the ground-state activation energy barrier in the presence of light. Analysis of lattice dynamics identifies a few soft phonon modes, two of which are IR-active with oscillator strength $ \approx -0.14$ e/(amu)$ ^{1/2}$ , which may be considered the microscopic origin of light-induced halide-ion swapping. This microscopic origin is further supported by band-edge-selective electron-phonon coupling, which amplifies interactions among excited carriers under illumination and with halide-ion motion without inducing a uniform dynamical instability. Using GW (G-Green’s function and W-screened Coulomb interaction) calculations, we accurately reproduce the experimentally observed optical absorption spectra in the absence of light, enabling us to describe the light-induced excited state reliably. We demonstrate a clear redshift in the optical spectra in the presence of light, which is due to light-induced bandgap renormalization. Overall, these findings not only establish an intrinsic, defect-free mechanism for photoswitchable optical functionality in 2D mixed-halide perovskites but also demonstrate an intrinsic self-resetting feature in the absence of light.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
16-page manuscript with supporting information
Quasiparticle interference as a tool to study quantum materials
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Luke C. Rhodes, Yuhki Kohsaka, Tetsuo Hanaguri, Carolina de Almeida Marques, Peter Wahl
To understand the properties of quantum materials a detailed knowledge of the material’s low energy electronic structure is key. Details of the electronic structure drive the ground state through electronic instabilities, electronic correlation effects, new electronic orders or just the absence of electronic states near the Fermi energy - making a realistic and detailed understanding crucial to be able to control and design properties of quantum materials. The past 25 years have seen a significant improvement in experimental techniques to observe the true electronic structure, in particular in techniques such as Angle resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) where energy resolutions of 2meV are routinely achievable now, which however is limited to zero magnetic field and only provides information about the occupied states. Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) achieves a significantly better energy resolution <100$ {\mu}$ eV and can operate at temperatures well below 50mK and in magnetic fields. While per se a real-space technique, by imaging quasiparticle interference (QPI) STM can also provide information about the electronic structure. This technique has been used over the past decades to study a wide range of quantum materials to understand correlated electron behaviour. Recent theoretical progress now enables routine modelling of QPI, a key requirement to interpret the complex data. Here, we review the principles of QPI, its origin, experimental detection, and the physical insight gained from the study of QPI and possible future directions for this technique.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Superconductivity (cond-mat.supr-con)
Review about quasiparticle interference imaging, with 103 pages and 21 figures
Exactness of Symmetry-Broken Self-Interaction Correction in the Strongly-Correlated or Classical Limit: Harmonium as a Demonstration
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Cody Woods, Yunzhi Li, Wenqing Yao, Chen Li, John Perdew
Strong electron correlation is an important challenge to both wavefunction and density functional theory. It has been argued that the Perdew-Zunger 1981 self-interaction correction to any density functional approximation, after symmetry breaking, can correctly describe the ground-state energy in the strongly-correlated limit in which each electron is described by a highly-localized and non-overlapped one-electron spin orbital. It has also been argued that the classical limit, in which Planck’s constant tends to zero, is the strongly-correlated limit of quantum mechanics, where standard density functionals fail badly, as demonstrated by the exactly-solvable problem of harmonium (two Coulomb-interacting electrons bound by a spherically-symmetric harmonic-oscillator external potential). Here we combine these two ideas and demonstrate that, for harmonium, symmetry-broken self-interaction correction is exact in the limit where Planck’s constant tends to zero, and usefully accurate for all values between 0 and the physical value (1 in atomic units). We also show that the Planck-constant-dependent symmetric ground-state density can be restored by spherical averaging of the broken-symmetry density.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el)
Machine Learning Inference Limits of Routine Cement Characterization for CEM I Performance: Evidence From a Multi-Producer Dataset
New Submission | Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Marchellino Ghorayeb, Christiane Rößler, Horst-Michael Ludwig, Leon Herrmann, Stefan Kollmannsberger
Routine cement performance characterization provides continuous quality control data, but its information content for performance inference and transferability across independent producers remains uncertain. This study analyzes 476 cement records from 23 European producers, collected in one laboratory over 27 years, to determine what can be inferred from routine measurements. The analysis focuses on CEM I and combines oxide chemistry, Blaine fineness, particle-size distribution descriptors, physical properties, and derived Bogue and equivalent-alkali descriptors with machine learning attribution and producer-transfer tests.
For CEM I, fineness is the strongest descriptor family for strength class and water demand, but oxide chemistry contributes a comparable signal when evaluated jointly. Blaine and compact particle-size distribution representations are largely interchangeable within the descriptor space, indicating that the dominant recoverable fineness information is captured by routine measurements. Equivalent alkali shows a consistent negative association with 28-day strength, through K$ _2$ O in this dataset.
Strength class and water demand can be recovered from routine cement characterization data. The early-strength designation is recovered only as a population-level tendency, not a physically separable class, because early-strength development can arise from combinations of fineness, sulfate–alkali chemistry, phase assemblage, and plant practice. Producer-holdout tests show that absolute prediction errors remain comparable across the held-out producers in this dataset, whereas recovery of within-producer strength variation is producer-dependent. Routine CEM I characterization therefore supports useful performance inference across producers, while exposing producer-specific variation whose recovery may require additional speciation.
Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci)
17 pages, 6 figures, 13 tables
Exact Neural-Network Representations of the Motzkin States
New Submission | Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Runde Zha, Yuntian Gu, Chaohui Fan, Jia-lin Chen, Hai-Jun Liao, Tao Xiang
Motzkin spin chains are paradigmatic frustration-free one-dimensional quantum systems whose ground states feature exactly solvable combinatorial structures and exotic, area-law-violating entanglement scaling. Specifically, colorless Motzkin states exhibit critical logarithmic entanglement divergence (\log N) with system size (N), while their colorful counterparts host supercritical sublinear (\sqrt{N}) entanglement growth. Such unconventional entanglement behaviors place these states well beyond the expressive capability of standard matrix product states, which are fundamentally constrained by the entanglement area law. Here, we systematically construct exact, training-free neural-network representations for both colorless and colorful Motzkin states across four mainstream architectures, including recurrent, feedforward, convolutional, and transformer networks. Our core design leverages a causal prefix-sum module, implementable via recurrent updates, feedforward mappings, or masked attention layers, combined with position-selective rectified linear gates that enforce the Motzkin height constraints. For the colorful states, we further introduce a dedicated causal stack module that explicitly encodes the last-in-first-out color-matching rule. Our results demonstrate that neural architectures can accurately capture highly non-trivial entanglement features inaccessible to conventional tensor networks, providing prototypic examples for benchmarking and a constructive design framework for future neural-network quantum state developments targeting strongly entangled quantum systems.
Strongly Correlated Electrons (cond-mat.str-el), Quantum Physics (quant-ph)
Effective field theories of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics in one dimension
New Submission | Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Describing emergent macroscopic phenomena in low spatial dimensions is known to be notoriously challenging, primarily due to strong interactions that render perturbative approaches inapplicable. On the other hand, low-dimensional systems host a wealth of unorthodox phenomena. A prominent example is the emergence of superdiffusive transport in one-dimensional interacting systems, traditionally studied in the framework of nonlinear fluctuating hydrodynamics. After identifying and discussing internal inconsistencies in the previous formulations, in this work we develop a general and systematic approach for constructing effective field theories of one-dimensional hydrodynamic systems in the form of coupled stochastic Langevin-type equations compatible with the physical requirements of local equilibrium states such as the thermodynamic Maxwell relation and fluctuation-dissipation symmetry. We implemented a general numerical integration scheme and exemplified our construction on a simple model of two interacting hydrodynamic modes with a non-Gaussian stationary equilibrium measure.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech)
20 pages, 7 figures
Extreme First-Passage Time of Many Interacting Particles
New Submission | Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Extreme first-passage events are broadly relevant to biological, chemical, and physical processes in which the first successful arrival determines the outcome. Existing theories are confined to noninteracting searchers. Interacting extreme-statistics problems are notoriously difficult because correlations destroy probability factorization. We establish a general framework for interacting extreme search. A no-go theorem shows that broad classes of bounded interactions cannot beat the $ 1/\ln N$ extreme timescale of $ N$ independent Brownian searchers, and complementary upper bounds prove that this scale is exact for broad classes of repulsive interactions. We then identify two sharp mechanisms beyond the logarithmic class and derive a unified interaction-driven acceleration limit. In particular, deterministic pairwise interaction can at most reduce the extreme search time to order $ 1/N$ , while stochastic pairwise forcing attains $ 1/(N\ln N)$ . Our results separate acceleration due to statistical redundancy from that generated by coherent many-body transport or amplified fluctuations, deepening our understanding of interacting stochastic systems.
Statistical Mechanics (cond-mat.stat-mech), Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Soft Condensed Matter (cond-mat.soft), Mathematical Physics (math-ph), Biological Physics (physics.bio-ph)
6 pages. Comments are highly appreciated. Supplemental Materials will be uploaded prior to the formal submission
Supermoiré-trapped quadrupolar exciton
New Submission | Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall) | 2026-07-27 20:00 EDT
Anish Kumar, Suman Chatterjee, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi, Kausik Majumdar
Moiré-trapped dipolar interlayer exciton in heterobilayers offers a rich platform to explore interaction-driven phenomena. Extending the number of layers to three and beyond leads to highly intriguing multipolar exciton - a superposition state of vertically aligned phase-coherent excitons. However, in experiments, unintentional twist-angle mismatch among layers may degrade the strength and homogeneity of the vertical Coulomb coupling. Here we propose that the supermoiré effect in a heterotrilayer comes to the rescue by creating periodic pockets of vertically aligned atomic registries that facilitate the formation of quadrupolar excitons trapped in such pockets. Using WS$ _2$ /WSe$ _2$ /WS$ _2$ stack, we show interaction between multiple confined levels of the top and bottom moiré interfaces, creating electric field tunable multi-level hybridized bright (symmetric) and dark (anti-symmetric) quadrupolar states. Our work underscores the critical role of supermoiré effect in quadrupolar excitons. The discovery of reduced sensitivity on precise angle-alignment will ignite exploration of complex excitonic states in multi-layered heterostructures.
Mesoscale and Nanoscale Physics (cond-mat.mes-hall), Materials Science (cond-mat.mtrl-sci), Optics (physics.optics)
Accepted in Nano Letters