We present a closed formula for the computation of static post-Newtonian corrections to the two-body gravitational dynamics at any odd order, assuming the lower-order results are known. The formula is derived within a correlation function framework and exploits the ${\mathbb{Z}}_2$ symmetry of the static sector, leading to a novel theoretical interpretation of the factorization theorem. As an application, we compute the gravitational interaction of two compact coalescing objects at the seventh post-Newtonian order in the static limit, which receives contributions from seven-loop graphs at order $\mathcal{O}(G_N^8{v}^0)$, and find complete agreement with the results obtained using the diagrammatic approach of the factorization theorem.

Topology under non-Hermitian dynamics is encoded in the phase of the bulk evolution, yet strong dissipation suppresses the amplitudes carrying it. We resolve this using a programmable photonic integrated circuit that implements such dynamics in synthetic momentum space through unitary dilation, with the phase recovered by phase-shifted interferometry. For the non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger model, the method distinguishes trivial and nontrivial Zak phases and yields a coherence winding $q=\pm 1$ induced by an exceptional point. Extending to a synthetic torus via a Rice-Mele pump gives the first Chern number ${\mathrm{Ch}}_1=0$, 1 for trivial and nontrivial cycles, showing a programmable route to momentum-space topology under strongly dissipative non-Hermitian dynamics.

We report the experimental observation of memory effects in a vertically vibrated thin granular layer. Following a quench in the input acceleration, the granular temperature exhibits an anomalous Kovacs memory effect confined to the initial fast relaxation stage. This memory vanishes shortly thereafter, yielding a time-dependent memoryless regime governed solely by the instantaneous temperature before the system reaches its final steady state. We develop a kinetic theory framework that quantitatively captures these features by identifying the initial memory and subsequent memoryless regimes with the kinetic and hydrodynamic states, respectively (that are well established in kinetic theory). Our analysis reveals that memory emerges during fast transients through coupling between horizontal and vertical temperatures—a mechanism that fundamentally constrains the accessible memory phenomenology and precludes observation of the standard Kovacs effect in this system. Molecular dynamics simulations provide independent confirmation of all experimental and theoretical findings.

Thanks to electron-electron ($e\text{−}e$) collisions conserving momentum, metallic electron fluids are viscous. Yet, this viscosity is rarely detectable in bulk transport. Here, we report on the canonical realization of the Gurzhi effect in an elemental three-dimensional metal: cadmium. Using focused ion beam microstructuring to tune the effective thickness, we detected a low-temperature size-dependent resistivity upturn in a finite window sandwiched between ballistic and diffusive regimes. Within this window, the electrical conductivity displays a simultaneous quadratic dependence on both sample size and temperature—fingerprint of a hydrodynamic flow. This leads us to quantify the amplitude and the temperature dependence of kinematic and dynamic viscosity of the electron fluid. In cadmium, in contrast with graphene and ${}^3\mathrm{He}$, the rate of momentum-conserving $e\text{−}e$ collisions is not set by the main Fermi energy, but by Lilliputian energy scales and intervalley bottlenecks.

Stochastic thermodynamics gives universal relations for microscopic entropy production, yet its critical behavior at macroscopic nonequilibrium transitions remains unclassified. We study well-mixed reversible chemical reaction networks by first taking the macroscopic limit and next the long-time limit. We then characterize nonequilibrium transitions described by the bifurcations of the mass-action dynamics in terms of entropy production. Using linear-noise formulas, center-manifold normal forms, and Floquet theory, we obtain generic exponents for entropy-production fluctuations and responses at pitchfork, transcritical, saddle-node, and Hopf bifurcations. Beyond this low-order classification, a trajectory-space Cramér-Rao-type bound yields the universal scaling inequality $\alpha -2\beta \ge 0$. Hence divergent responses require divergent fluctuations, but not conversely, making entropy-production fluctuations a sharper probe of nonequilibrium criticality.

Nickelate superconductors provide a valuable new platform for the study of unconventional superconductivity that is complementary to the cuprates. One of the central puzzles about high-temperature superconductors is what factors determine the scale of their superconducting transition temperature ($T_{\mathrm{c}}$). To address this question for infinite-layer nickelates, we present a systematic mutual inductance study of the superfluid density across the doping-dependent superconducting dome of ${\mathrm{Nd}}_{1-x}{\mathrm{Sr}}_x{\mathrm{NiO}}_2$. We observe a weak superfluid stiffness that exhibits an approximately square-root correlation with $T_{\mathrm{c}}$. We also find a strong interplay between Nd magnetism and the superconducting phase, manifested as a substantial low-temperature suppression of superfluid density. These observations highlight the importance of superconducting phase fluctuations in limiting $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ and pronounced coupling between the Nd $4f$ moments and the superfluid.

Axial splitting is the dominant failure mode of brittle solids under compression, yet its mechanical origin remains unclear. We show that clamped loading platens suppress lateral Poisson expansion, generating boundary-induced tensile stresses at the specimen interior—the compressive analog of wrinkling in stretched sheets. This mechanism provides a predictive strength law, relating axial splitting to tensile strength, geometry, and confinement pressure. This is validated against diverse materials ranging from rocks to ceramics, establishing axial splitting as a geometry-controlled elastic process rather than a stochastic flaw problem.

Fractional Chern insulators (FCIs) realize fractional quantum Hall topology in lattice bands, but their excitation spectra remain far less understood than their ground states. Here, we establish a theoretical principle relating the periodic electron-density modulations of flat Chern bands to the many-body gap and excitation spectrum of FCIs. Contrary to the conventional view that such density modulations are detrimental to fractional topology, we show that different reciprocal-lattice Fourier components play sharply distinct roles: components at smaller reciprocal lattice vectors suppress the FCI gap, whereas components at larger reciprocal lattice vectors enhance it. By suppressing the harmful small-wave-vector components and amplifying the beneficial large-wave-vector components, the gap enhancement can, in principle, be made arbitrarily large within the projected flat-band theory. Moreover, the same enhancement factor rescales the full low-energy spectrum, making the FCI excitation spectrum predictable from the corresponding Landau-level problem. We further generalize this correspondence to non-Abelian states. Applying this principle to moiré Chern bands, we identify these reciprocal-lattice density components as practical diagnostics for robust FCIs.

Charged kaon-deuteron interactions offer a sensitive probe of the strangeness sector of QCD at low energy, particularly through their scattering parameters. Despite available theoretical predictions, experimental constraints remain absent, particularly for the ${\mathrm{K}}^{-}\mathrm{d}$ system. The first measurement of femtoscopic correlation functions for ${\mathrm{K}}^{-}\mathrm{d}\oplus {\mathrm{K}}^{+}\overline{\mathrm{d}}$ and ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}\mathrm{d}\oplus {\mathrm{K}}^{-}\overline{\mathrm{d}}$ particle pairs in Pb-Pb collisions at $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\mathrm{TeV}$ recorded by ALICE at the LHC is presented. Correlation functions for both systems are analyzed in three centrality classes and fitted using the Lednický-Lyuboshitz model to extract the source size and strong interaction scattering lengths. The ${\mathrm{K}}^{-}\mathrm{d}$ scattering length is found to be $\Re f_0=-1.44\pm 0.15{(\mathrm{stat})}_{-0.10}^{+0.10}(\mathrm{stat})\mathrm{fm}$ and $\Im f_0=1.34\pm 0.33(\mathrm{stat}{)}_{-0.15}^{+0.21}(\mathrm{syst})\mathrm{fm}$, while for ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}\mathrm{d}$ the value $\Re f_0=-0.68\pm 0.16(\mathrm{stat}{)}_{-0.09}^{+0.09}(\mathrm{syst})\mathrm{fm}$ is obtained. These results provide the first constraints on the ${\mathrm{K}}^{\pm }\mathrm{d}$ interaction modeling at low energy, delivering a long-awaited experimental benchmark for testing chiral QCD dynamics.

The world’s first Compton scattering measurements on a ${}^3\mathrm{He}$ target were performed to probe neutron electromagnetic polarizabilities. Differential cross sections were measured at laboratory angles of 40°, 55°, 90°, 115°, 150°, using circularly polarized, quasimonoenergetic photon beams at weighted mean energy values of 61.5 and 97.1 MeV from the High Intensity $\gamma$-Ray Source at the Triangle Universities Nuclear Laboratory. Comparisons with chiral effective field theory show good agreement at 97.1 MeV but overprediction at 61.5 MeV, motivating further theoretical development.

Relaxation of far-from-equilibrium quantum fluids, intimately related to the emergence of long-range order, is theoretically associated with the decay of a turbulent isotropic tangle of vortex lines. We observe and study such decaying quantum turbulence in a homogeneous 3D atomic Bose gas. Using matter-wave techniques to magnify the gas density distribution, and then imaging a thin slice of the magnified cloud, we observe imprints of randomly oriented vortex lines and measure the vortex-line-length density $\mathcal{L}$. The observed decay of $\mathcal{L}$ agrees with the prediction for Vinen “ultraquantum” turbulence. Although our weakly interacting gases are highly compressible, their large-scale dynamics are consistent with the behavior of an incompressible hydrodynamic fluid, with the decay of $\mathcal{L}$ not depending on the strength of the interatomic interactions and being similar to that in the strongly interacting superfluid helium.

Clean two-dimensional Fermi liquids are now known to exhibit an intermediate tomographic regime, between ballistic and Navier-Stokes transport, caused by the anomalously slow relaxation of parity-odd multipolar deformations of the Fermi surface. Here, we show that this anomaly extends to the dynamical realm. Starting from a microscopic numerical evaluation of the linearized electron-electron collision operator, we find that the finite-frequency nonlocal conductivity is controlled at low frequency by a single hydrodynamic pole, $\sigma (q,\omega )=\mathcal{D}(q)/(i\omega +{\eta }_{\star }{q}^z)$, with dynamical exponent $z=4/3$ and superdiffusive viscosity ${\eta }_{\star }$. Remarkably, the pole residue itself is scale dependent and obeys $\mathcal{D}(q)\sim q^{-\alpha }$ with $\alpha =1/3$, so the dynamical properties are described by two separate exponents rather than one. We interpret the residue suppression using a Krylov-chain description of current relaxation: As $q$ increases, the longest-lived quasinormal mode ceases to be a nearly pure current excitation and spreads over higher odd angular harmonics. Finally, we show that ac transport in narrow channels provides a direct experimental probe of these phenomena.

When the length of an optical cavity is modulated, theory predicts exponential concentration of energy around particular space-time trajectories. Viewed stroboscopically, photons in such a driven cavity propagate as if in a curved spacetime, with black hole and white hole event horizons corresponding to unstable and stable fixed points of the evolution. Such phenomena have resisted direct experimental realization due to the challenges associated with achieving effective near-relativistic accelerations of massive cavity mirrors. We report results of an experiment that overcomes this limitation by exchanging the roles of light and matter. A matter wave endowed with quasirelativistic dispersion is confined between two barriers made of light, one of which is periodically translated at speeds comparable to the matter wave group velocity. In this strongly modulated cavity we observe the emergence of the predicted bright and dark fixed point trajectories, and we furthermore demonstrate that changing the modulation waveform can vary the number of fixed points and exchange their stability character. We observe signatures of nontrivial dynamics beyond those predicted for photons and attribute them to residual curvature in the dispersion relation. In addition to experimentally realizing and characterizing cavity dynamics in the ultrastrong driving regime, these results point the way to implementations of related dynamics in electro-optic materials, with potential applications in pulse generation and signal compression.

We develop a first-principles framework for evaluating the fundamental length scales of superconductivity, namely the coherence length ${\xi }_0$ and the magnetic penetration depth ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{L}}$, within superconducting density functional theory. By incorporating finite-momentum Cooper pairs, we formulate a microscopic scheme that enables a consistent and parameter-free determination of ${\xi }_0$, ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{L}}$, and the superconducting transition temperature $T_{\mathrm{c}}$ on the same theoretical footing. Applying the method to representative elemental superconductors, the A15 compound ${\mathrm{V}}_3\mathrm{Si}$, and ${\mathrm{H}}_3\mathrm{S}$ under high pressure, we obtain results in good agreement with available experimental data and reproduce the type-I or type-II classification across all materials studied. The unified access to ${\xi }_0$ and ${\lambda }_{\mathrm{L}}$ further allows us to construct the Uemura plot entirely from first principles, showing that higher-$T_{\mathrm{c}}$ systems are characterized by the simultaneous realization of strong pairing and large phase stiffness. Our results establish a predictive first-principles route to superconducting length scales and provide a microscopic interpretation of empirical correlations in superconductivity.

Standard continuous gravitational-wave searches with pulsar timing arrays (PTAs) neglect cosmological redshift, restricting their applicability to the local Universe. We introduce a redshift-aware PTA framework and apply it to the Parkes PTA Data Release 3, deriving the first direct constraints on supermassive binary black holes (SMBBHs) at the cosmic dawn. Evaluating our limits across a broad redshift range, we observationally establish the nonmonotonic mass-redshift exclusion boundary driven by the theoretical “redshift bias,” demonstrating how PTAs can effectively probe sources at extreme distances. Redshift-aware targeted searches toward high-redshift systems, including the ultraluminous quasar $\mathrm{J}0100+2802$ ($z=6.327$) and the JWST-discovered galaxy JADES-GS-z14-0 ($z=14.32$), rigorously exclude SMBBHs with chirp masses ${\mathcal{M}}_c\gtrsim {10}^{10}{M}_{\odot }$ across the nanohertz frequency band. Finally, we demonstrate that high-redshift binaries can be robustly detected and localized, allowing for the accurate measurement of their intrinsic properties. Our results provide the tightest constraints to date on SMBBHs at $z>6$ and establish a practical framework for probing early-Universe black hole assembly.

We present a novel protocol to detect rare signals in a noisy environment using quantum error correction (QEC). The key feature of our protocol is the discrimination between signal and noise through distinct higher-order correlations, realized by the nonlinear processing that occurs during syndrome extraction in QEC. In this scheme, QEC has two effects. First, it sacrifices part of the signal $\epsilon$ by recording a reduced, stochastic, logical phase ${\varphi }_L=\mathcal{O}({\epsilon }^3)$. Second, it corrects the physical noise and extends the (logical) coherence time for signal acquisition. For rare signals occurring at random times in the presence of local Markovian noise, we explicitly demonstrate an improved sensitivity of our approach over more conventional sensing strategies.

Millimeter waves are emerging as an enabling technology for connecting and enhancing different quantum platforms such as Rydberg atoms, optomechanics, and superconducting qubits. In this Letter, we explore the interaction between millimeter wave photons and conventional transmon qubits, specifically for qubit readout. We study a circuit quantum electrodynamic system consisting of a millimeter wave cavity at ${\omega }_r=2\pi \times 34.7\mathrm{GHz}$ and a transmon qubit at ${\omega }_q=2\pi \times 3.1\mathrm{GHz}$ coupled at rate $g=2\pi \times 1.3\mathrm{GHz}$. With such a large detuning between cavity and qubit, ${\omega }_r/{\omega }_q>10$, we are able to suppress drive induced unwanted resonant state transitions, enabling strong drives for qubit readout. We measure no resonant state transitions even when driving with more than 100 photons and read out the qubit state with more than 100 photons to achieve a measurement fidelity greater than 99% without the aid of a quantum limited amplifier.

Quantum chromodynamics in two spacetime dimensions admits a finite noninvertible symmetry described mathematically by a fusion category. This symmetry is spontaneously broken at long distances, leading to distinct vacua. When the theory has a mass gap, the spectrum is therefore characterized by particle excitations above a single vacuum and soliton sectors interpolating between vacua. We use anyon condensation and the representation theory of fusion categories to obtain exact results about this spectrum, exhibiting the allowed multiplets. Often, particles and solitons are in the same representation and therefore must have equal masses. Furthermore, the fusion category symmetry frequently implies the existence of certain stable states in the spectrum. The resulting degeneracies are encoded in quiver diagrams where nodes are vacua and arrows are excited states.

Manipulating spin using contactless and noninvasive optical approaches is one of the forefront topics in modern spintronic science and technology. Prior studies show that optically induced spin reorientation usually scales with spin-orbit coupling strength, setting a limitation on composing heavy elements. In this Letter, we extend such a limit into the nonrelativistic regime by exploring noncollinear magnetic configuration. Using a general spin group-theoretical investigation, we show how the symmetric operators in both spin and lattice spaces control the spin torque and quantum geometry of Bloch wave function—including both quantum metric and Berry curvature. We describe their site-resolved spin symmetries and unravel their selection rules. Furthermore, we adopt a Kagomé lattice model and a realistic material family to showcase the local spin torque under light irradiation. Since the nonrelativistic spin splitting usually spans on the order of electronvolt, significantly larger than typical spin-orbit induced splitting, the nonrelativistic light-induced spin torque is concomitantly much stronger. This Letter extends the previous opto-spintronics from the relativistic to nonrelativistic limit, significantly broadening its realization platform.

Odd-even effects are a generic feature of nonlinear physics, as odd- and even-order responses obey distinct symmetry conditions and reflect different aspects of electronic quantum geometry. With profound implications for both fundamental science and transformative applications, nonlinear Hall effects (NLHEs) have garnered intense interest in recent years, yet their odd-even parity remains elusive. Here, we report the observation of NLHE odd-even effects in bilayer graphene by engineering symmetry breaking. We demonstrate that even-order NLHEs necessitate an out-of-plane electric field to break inversion symmetry, whereas odd-order NLHEs require a perpendicular magnetic field to break vertical mirror planes in bilayer graphene. Interestingly, upon applying an out-of-plane magnetic field, we observe a new contribution to even-order NLHEs that increases linearly with field strength. By contrast, the magnetocontribution to odd-order NLHEs is dominated by a higher-order cubic scaling in magnetic field strength. Furthermore, both even- and odd-order NLHEs are strongly enhanced by Landau level formation, and the broken-symmetry Landau levels at filling factors $\nu =\pm 1,\pm 2$ can be clearly distinguished in the NLHE signals. These findings highlight that NLHEs are more sensitive to geometric and topological properties (e.g., Berry curvature hotspots) and symmetry breaking states than linear transport. Our work reveals the odd-even effects of NLHEs in bilayer graphene as well as electric and magnetic control of NLHEs with previously unexplored magnetocontributions, deepening the fundamental understanding of nonlinear transport and opening pathways toward technological advances in nonlinear electronics.