We introduce a generative modeling framework for thermodynamic computing, in which structured data are synthesized from noise by the natural time evolution of a physical system governed by Langevin dynamics. While conventional diffusion models use neural networks to perform denoising, here the information needed to generate structure from noise is encoded by the dynamics of a thermodynamic system. Training proceeds by maximizing the probability with which the computer generates the reverse of a noising trajectory, which ensures that the computer generates data with minimal heat emission. We demonstrate this framework within a digital simulation of a thermodynamic computer. If realized in analog hardware, such a system would function as a generative model that produces structured samples without the need for artificially injected noise or active control of denoising.

Multistability—the coexistence of multiple stable states—is a cornerstone of nonlinear dynamical systems, governing their equilibrium, tunability, and emergent complexity. Recently, the concept of hidden multistability, where certain stable states evade detection via conventional continuous parameter sweeping, has garnered increasing attention due to its elusive nature and promising applications. In this Letter, we present the first experimental observation of hidden multistability using a programmable acoustic coupled-cavity platform that integrates competing self-focusing and self-defocusing Kerr nonlinearities. Beyond established bistability, we demonstrate semihidden and fully hidden tristabilities by precisely programming system parameters. Crucially, the hidden stable states, typically inaccessible via the traditional protocol, are unambiguously revealed and dynamically controlled through pulsed excitation, enabling flexible transitions between distinct types of stable states. These experimental findings not only offer new insights into the fundamental physics of emerging hidden multistability, but also unlock new avenues for applications in information storage, information encryption, and safety precaution, where multistate dynamics could enable advanced control techniques.

We theoretically proposed and experimentally demonstrated that a nonlinear acoustic dimer system with amplitude-dependent and sign-reversible coupling exhibits unprecedented control over multistability and state selection. The engineered inter-resonator coupling $\kappa ={\kappa }_0+\alpha |{\psi }_1{|}^2$ yields a quintic steady-state response with at most three dynamically stable states: low (LS), intermediate (IS), and high (HS). Monotonic sweeps produce asymmetric hysteresis—$\mathrm{LS}\to \mathrm{HS}$ on upsweep, but $\mathrm{HS}\to \mathrm{IS}\to \mathrm{LS}$ on downsweep—leaving a linearly stable yet dynamically inaccessible IS under conventional driving. Basin-of-attraction analysis shows that nonlinear coupling reshapes the phase-space geometry, creating barriers that isolate the IS. Leveraging this insight, we developed a simple up-down-up adiabatic protocol that achieves full and selective access to all stable states, including the otherwise transparent IS. Mapping versus drive frequency and damping reveals transitions from separated bistable loops to a unified tristable regime. These results, to our knowledge, provide the first experimental realization of nonlinear-coupling-governed multistability and a versatile route to programmable multistate control.

We present an experimental study of molecular alignment echoes driven by ultrashort structured light fields carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM). By combining two time-delayed pump pulses with spatially varying polarization, we produce a molecular “$q$ plate” in a gaseous ${\mathrm{CO}}_2$ sample that can be rephased in a controllable manner. This approach enables the storage of OAM information within the rotational coherences of molecules and its retrieval at adjustable times. The concept is validated using vortex beams of various topological charges $\ell =\pm 1$, 2. These results extend the mechanism of molecular alignment echoes to vector light fields and establish a new route for optical processing of ultrashort OAM pulses, advancing molecular-based quantum interfaces for structured light.

We demonstrate the general failure of the famous concept of tight binding and mode hybridization underlying modern theories of coupled open resonators. Despite sophisticated examples in the literature illustrating these theories, they fail to describe planar systems. This includes even the simplest case of two dielectric slabs placed next to each other or separated by a distance, which is straightforward to verify analytically. We present a rigorous theory capable of calculating correctly the eigenmodes of arbitrary three-dimensional dispersive coupled resonators in terms of their individual modes, revealing proper mode hybridization and formation of bonding and antibonding supermodes. Planar optical resonators, such as coupled slabs and Bragg-mirror microcavities, are used for illustration since they allow reliable verification of the theory.

We introduce a combined density functional theory and nonequilibrium Green’s function framework to compute the capacitance of nanocapacitors and directly extract the dielectric response of a subnanometer dielectric under bias. We identify that at the nanoscale conventional capacitance evaluations based on stored charge per unit voltage suffer from an ill-posed partitioning of electrode and dielectric charge. This partitioning directly impacts the geometric definition of capacitance through the capacitor width, which in turn makes the evaluation of dielectric response uncertain. This ambiguous separation further induces spurious interfacial polarizability when analyzed via maximally localized Wannier functions. Focusing on crystalline ice, we develop a robust charge-separation protocol that yields unique capacitance-derived polarizability and dielectric constants, unequivocally demonstrating that confinement alters neither ice’s intrinsic electronic response nor its insensitivity to proton order. Our results lay the groundwork for rigorous interpretation of capacitor measurements in low-dimensional dielectric materials.

We present the tightest cosmic microwave background (CMB) lensing constraints to date on the growth of structure by combining CMB lensing measurements from the Atacama Cosmology Telescope (ACT), the South Pole Telescope (SPT), and Planck. Each of these surveys individually provides lensing measurements with similarly high statistical power, achieving signal-to-noise ratios of approximately 40. The combined lensing band powers represent the most precise CMB lensing power spectrum measurement to date with a signal-to-noise ratio of 61 and an amplitude of $A_{\mathrm{lens}}^{\text{recon}}=1.025\pm 0.017$ with respect to the theory prediction from the best-fit CMB Planck-ACT cosmology. The band powers from all three lensing datasets, analyzed jointly, yield a 1.6% measurement of the parameter combination $S_8^{\mathrm{CMBL}}\equiv {\sigma }_8({\mathrm{\Omega }}_m/0.3{)}^{0.25}=0.825_{-0.013}^{+0.015}$. Including dark energy spectroscopic instrument baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO) data improves the constraint on the amplitude of matter fluctuations to ${\sigma }_8=0.829\pm 0.009$ (a 1.1% determination). When combining with uncalibrated supernovae from Pantheon+, we present a 4% sound-horizon-independent estimate of $H_0=66.4\pm 2.5\mathrm{km}{\mathrm{s}}^{-1}{\mathrm{Mpc}}^{-1}$. The joint lensing constraints on structure growth and present-day Hubble rate are fully consistent with a $\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{CDM}$ model fit to the primary CMB data from Planck and ACT. While the precise upper limit is sensitive to the choice of data and underlying model assumptions, when varying the neutrino mass sum within the $\mathrm{\Lambda }\mathrm{CDM}$ cosmological model, the combination of primary CMB, BAO, and CMB lensing drives the probable upper limit for the mass sum towards lower values, comparable to the minimum mass prior required by neutrino oscillation experiments.

Characterizing the anisotropic structure in noncollinear antiferromagnets is essential for antiferromagnetic spintronics. In this Letter, we provide a microscopic theory linking the anisotropy effects induced by the rigid-body rotation of spin order to spin-orbit coupling. Our method goes beyond the conventional magnetic group theory, offering a concise yet powerful tool to characterize diverse anisotropy effects in complex magnetic systems. Using the group representation theory of the spin group, we obtain a set of basis functions formed from tensor elements of spin-orbit vector—which originates from spin-orbit coupling and is tied to the rigid-body rotation of the spin order–to systematically describe the structure of anisotropy effects. As a concrete example, we apply our framework to coplanar antiferromagnets ${\mathrm{Mn}}_3\mathrm{Sn}$ and ${\mathrm{Mn}}_3\mathrm{Ir}$, demonstrating that the corresponding basis functions can well capture both the geometric and magnitude dependencies of the magnetic anisotropy energy and anomalous Hall conductivity. Finally, we discuss the generalization of our framework to broader classes of anisotropy phenomena in magnetic systems.

Conventional approaches to generating and distributing entangled quantum states usually rely on bulky traditional optical devices, posing significant challenges to system miniaturization and integration. Here we report an entanglement engineering scheme that utilizes quantum interference on a metasurface, combined with postselection, to generate and distribute multiple polarization-entangled photon pairs. Two unentangled identical photons, differing only in polarization, are incident on a multichannel metasurface where each channel supports a specific polarization transformation. The metasurface facilitates two-photon interference, generating postselected polarization-entangled states and forming a fully connected entanglement distribution among every two output channels. Experiments demonstrate the generation and distribution of four Bell states across 21 channel pairs, underscoring the potential of metasurfaces as compact, scalable entanglement sources for quantum networking.

Flow-mediated interactions between objects are important in sedimentation and collective locomotion. New phenomena arise in systems that are dominantly coupled by rotation, as relevant to active matter physics and biological and engineering contexts. Here we establish an experimental platform for studying fluid mechanical spin-coupling effects and map out how interactions depend on proximity, confinement, and flow state. The two-body problem of a driven rotor inducing spin of a passive rotor reveals a gearlike counterrotation mode but also surprising corotation modes that occur broadly across the parameter space. Streamline analysis and a mechanical model indicate distinct transitions between modes that arise geometrically at close range, topologically due to flow reconfiguration, and inertially with increasing Reynolds number. These findings provide ways to understand, control, and exploit hydrodynamic spin-spin interactions in applications.

Accurate precipitation forecasting is becoming increasingly important in the context of climate change. In response, machine learning-based approaches have recently gained attention as an emerging alternative to traditional methods such as numerical weather prediction and climate models. Nonetheless, many recent approaches still rely on off-the-shelf loss functions, and even the more advanced ones merely involve optimization processes based on the critical success index (CSI). The problem, however, is that CSI may become ineffective during extended dry periods when precipitation remains below the threshold, rendering it less than ideal as a criterion for optimization. To address this limitation, we introduce a simple penalty expression and reinterpret it as a quadratic unconstrained binary optimization (QUBO) formulation. Ultimately, the resulting QUBO formulation is relaxed into a differentiable advanced torrential (AT) loss function through an approximation process. The proposed AT loss demonstrates its superiority through the Lipschitz constant, forecast performance evaluations, consistency experiments, and ablation studies with the operational model.

Quantum cryptographic conferencing (QCC) allows multiple parties to establish common secure keys in quantum networks with information-theoretic security. However, the secure transmission distances of current QCC implementations are still limited to the metropolitan areas. Here, we experimentally demonstrate the three-intensity phase-matching (PM) QCC protocol considering finite-size effects by employing frequency-locking and phase-tracking techniques for three parties. The key distribution capability of the PM QCC protocol is demonstrated in the symmetric fiber channels with the distance from each party to the measurement site up to 100 km. The network adaptability of the PM QCC protocol is demonstrated in asymmetric fiber channels used to simulate fiber channel configurations in real networks. Thus, the feasibility of applying the PM QCC protocol to practical intercity quantum networks with both symmetric and asymmetric channels is verified.

Zero- and two-dimensional crystal defects form in open statistical ensembles, such as the grand canonical, that are usually inaccessible with conventional simulation techniques. This longstanding challenge is overcome with a new Hamiltonian Monte Carlo method that samples energy-biased gradual transformations. The method enables free energy calculations for nonideal point defects and the direct prediction of finite-temperature interface structures.

The strength of metals and alloys increases as grain size decreases due to grain boundary strengthening. This “smaller is stronger” effect has been observed consistently in the microcrystalline, ultrafine-grained, and even nanocrystalline metals with the exception of extremely small grains on the order of $\sim 10\mathrm{nm}$, where grain boundary strengthening breaks down. Here we report a reversed trend in the microcrystalline regime. When subjected to extremely high strain rates, metals with smaller grain sizes become softer. The grain sizes studied here (1–$100\mathrm{\mu }\mathrm{m}$) are several orders of magnitude larger than those associated with the breakdown of the grain boundary strengthening. We attribute this softening behavior to the suppression of ballistic dislocation transport, which, consequently, limits dislocation-phonon drag in smaller grains.

This Letter reports measurements of muon-neutrino disappearance and electron-neutrino appearance and the corresponding antineutrino processes between the two NOvA detectors in the NuMI neutrino beam. These measurements use a dataset with double the neutrino mode beam exposure that was previously analyzed, along with improved simulation and analysis techniques. A joint fit to these samples in the three-flavor paradigm results in the most precise single-experiment constraint on the atmospheric neutrino mass splitting, $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{32}^2=2.431_{-0.034}^{+0.036}(-2.479_{-0.036}^{+0.036})\times {10}^{-3}{\mathrm{eV}}^2$ if the mass ordering is normal (inverted). In both orderings, a region close to maximal mixing with ${\sin }^2{\theta }_{23}=0.55_{-0.06}^{+0.02}$ is preferred. The NOvA data show a mild preference for the normal mass ordering with a Bayes factor of 2.4 (corresponding to 70% of the posterior probability), indicating that the normal ordering is 2.4 times more probable than the inverted ordering. When incorporating a 2D $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{32}^2-{\sin }^{2}2{\theta }_{13}$ constraint based on Daya Bay data, this preference strengthens to a Bayes factor of 6.6 (87%).

We study the dependence of the $p$-wave contact on the Fermi temperature $T_F$ and reduced temperature $T/T_F$ based on the number of closed-channel molecules. From the anisotropic pattern of dissociated molecules, we resolve the narrow $m=0$ and $m=\pm 1$ dipolar splitting of the $p$-wave Feshbach resonance in ${}^6\mathrm{Li}$, enabling the independent determination of the contact for all three $m$ components. For each component, we identify a near-resonant scaling with $\sqrt{T_F}$, indicating the contribution of the normalized effective range $k_F{R}_{\mathrm{e}}$. In addition, we show that the peak contacts observed near resonance increase as $T/T_F$ is lowered, a trend that is accurately captured by estimates based on the second-order virial expansion. Our results, together with estimates from the $p$-wave virial expansion, provide a route toward a complete understanding of the thermodynamics of resonantly enhanced $p$-wave Fermi gases.

Quantum state tomography (QST) is a central task for quantum information processing, enabling quantum cryptography, computation, and state certification. Traditional QST relies on projective measurements of single- and two-qubit Pauli operators, requiring the system of interest to be isolated from environmental dissipation. In this Letter, we demonstrate that measuring currents and associated transport quantities flowing through a quantum system in an open configuration enables the reconstruction of its quantum state. This result relies on an exact relation between transport quantities and the Krylov subspaces associated with the Lindbladian which encodes the dynamical evolution of an open quantum system. We illustrate this transport approach to QST with the explicit example of a two-qubit system embedded in a two-terminal setup. As a direct consequence of our framework, we are able to provide a transport-based entanglement measure to certify the presence of quantum correlations, expressing the concurrence in terms of current averages and correlation functions only. Our findings are analytical, providing fundamental insights into quantum information processing in open quantum systems. They establish new connections between the fields of mesoscopic physics and quantum information theory.

We conduct the first-ever pulsar polarization array (PPA) analysis to detect the ultralight axionlike dark matter (ALDM) using the polarization data of 22 millisecond pulsars from the third data release of Parkes pulsar timing array. As one of the major dark matter candidates, the ultralight ALDM exhibits a pronounced wave nature on astronomical scales and offers a promising solution to small-scale structure issues within local galaxies. While the linearly polarized pulsar light travels through the ALDM galactic halo, its position angle (PA) can be subject to an oscillation induced by the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling with electromagnetic field. The PPA is thus especially suited for detecting the ultralight ALDM by correlating polarization data across the arrayed pulsars. To accomplish this task, we develop an advanced Bayesian analysis framework that allows us to construct pulsar PA residual time series, model noise contributions properly and search for pulsar cross-correlations. We find that for an ALDM density of ${\rho }_0=0.4\mathrm{GeV}/{\mathrm{cm}}^3$, the Parkes PPA offers the best global limits on the ALDM Chern-Simons coupling, namely $\lesssim {10}^{-13.5}-{10}^{-12.2}{\mathrm{GeV}}^{-1}$, for the mass range of ${10}^{-22}–{10}^{-21}\mathrm{eV}$. The crucial role of pulsar cross-correlation in recognizing the nature of the derived limits is also highlighted.

Combining macroscopic measurements, neutron scattering, and modeling, we identify in the ${\mathrm{GeFe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_4$ spinel a correlated paramagnetic state resulting from the predominance of third-neighbor antiferromagnetic interactions. These interactions materialize four interlaced families of triangular planes with 120° spins emerging from the underlying pyrochlore lattice. At lower temperatures, a phase transition occurs to a noncoplanar spin structure that is characterized by six propagation vectors. This unusual multi-$q$ order is triggered by the presence of weaker interactions up to the sixth neighbors. The system is remarkably successful in coupling the different triangular planes while maintaining their two-dimensional 120° order. Our Letter highlights the hierarchy of interactions involved in ${\mathrm{GeFe}}_2{\mathrm{O}}_4$, which is singular among spinel compounds since first-neighbor interactions are only a small fraction of the dominant third-neighbor ones.

We show that encrypted cloning of unknown quantum states is possible. Any number of encrypted clones of a qubit can be created through a unitary transformation, and each of the encrypted clones can be decrypted through a unitary transformation. The decryption of an encrypted clone consumes the decryption key; i.e., only one decryption is possible, in agreement with the no-cloning theorem. Encrypted cloning represents a new paradigm that provides a form of redundancy, parallelism, or scalability where direct duplication is forbidden by the no-cloning theorem. For example, a possible application of encrypted cloning is to enable encrypted quantum multicloud storage.