Volume 136, Issue 5

6 February 2026

Browse Issues:

On the Cover

A differential conductance map from scanning tunneling microscopy reveals scattering between the two superconducting condensates of Pb caused by a subsurface stacking fault tetrahedron. Selected for a Synopsis in Physics Magazine and for an Editors’ Suggestion.

From the article:

Visualization of Defect-Induced Interband Proximity Effect at the Nanoscale
Thomas Gozlinski, Qili Li, Rolf Heid, Oleg Kurnosikov, Alexander Haas, Ryohei Nemoto, Toyo Kazu Yamada, Jörg Schmalian, and Wulf Wulfhekel
Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056401 (2026)

HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLES

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

From Spin to Pseudospin Symmetry: The Origin of Magic Numbers in Nuclear Structure

C. R. Ding, C. C. Wang, J. M. Yao, H. Hergert, H. Z. Liang, and S. K. Bogner

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 052501 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Calculations show how the mysterious “magic numbers” that stabilize nuclear structures emerge naturally from nuclear forces—once these are described with appropriate spatial resolution.

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Observation of Lump Solitons

Ludovica Dieli, Davide Pierangeli, Fabio Baronio, Stefano Trillo, and Claudio Conti

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053804 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Experiments with structured light beams provide the first observation of “lump” solitions, shape-preserving solitary waves in a two-dimensional setting.

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Visualization of Defect-Induced Interband Proximity Effect at the Nanoscale

Thomas Gozlinski, Qili Li, Rolf Heid, Oleg Kurnosikov, Alexander Haas, Ryohei Nemoto, Toyo Kazu Yamada, Jörg Schmalian, and Wulf Wulfhekel

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056401 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

By exploiting defects in a superconductor, scientists have observed the switching of a material’s two superconducting states into one.

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Purely Electronic Chirality without Structural Chirality

Takayuki Ishitobi and Kazumasa Hattori

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056402 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

A crystal whose arrangement of atoms lacks chirality can nevertheless host a chiral electronic state.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Isomer Depletion of ${}^{93 m}{Mo}$ Triggered by Inelastic Nuclear Scattering Rather than Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture

B. Ding (丁兵) et al.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 052502 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

A new experiment shows that isomer depletion can be effectively induced when the highly charged isomeric ions slow down in a solid media.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Dynamical Superconducting Parity Effect in a Coulomb Pb Island

Wenhao Zhang, Xin Liao, James Jun He, Hui-Nan Xia, Tao Xie, Naoto Nagaosa, Tianyou Zhai, and Ying-Shuang Fu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056201 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Cooper-pair condensation dynamics plays an indispensable role in a new type of superconducting parity effect in a Coulomb blockade system made up of nanosized Pb islands.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Pseudo-Landau Thermal Diffusion

Jun Guo, Guoqiang Xu, Mengqi Liu, Xue Zhou, Guangming Tao, and Cheng-Wei Qiu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056306 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

A synthetic pseudomagnetic field induces Landau-level-like quantization in heat diffusion, leading to a macroscopic quantum thermal Hall-like resistance plateau in a fundamentally dissipative system.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Ab Initio Bulk Free Energy Surface of Proper Ferroelectrics

Pinchen Xie, Yixiao Chen, Xinyu Xu, Zhi Yao, Weinan E, and Roberto Car

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056801 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Through a combination of first-principles techniques, neural network models, and metadynamics simulations accurate free energy surfaces of ferroic materials can now be obtained without an a priori ansatz of the polynomial-based energy model.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Nonreciprocal Wave-Mediated Interactions Power a Classical Time Crystal

Mia C. Morrell, Leela Elliott, and David G. Grier

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 057201 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

A pair of acoustically levitated beads powered by nonreciprocal interactions can spontaneously organize into a continuous time crystal, a state of matter that sustains steady-state oscillations without periodic driving.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Ideal Glass and Ideal Disk Packing in Two Dimensions

Viola M. Bolton-Lum, R. Cameron Dennis, Peter K. Morse, and Eric I. Corwin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 058201 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

A computational minimization procedure shows how to make an ideal glass, a disordered system of particles with zero configurational entropy and with the mechanical and thermal properties of a crystal.

LETTERS

Quantum Information, Science, and Technology

Ergotropic Characterization of Continuous-Variable Entanglement

Beatriz Polo-Rodríguez, Federico Centrone, Gerardo Adesso, and Mir Alimuddin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050201 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Catalytic Channels Are the Only Noise-Robust Catalytic Processes

Jeongrak Son, Ray Ganardi, Shintaro Minagawa, Francesco Buscemi, Seok Hyung Lie, and Nelly H. Y. Ng

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050202 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Mapping Phase Diagrams of Quantum Spin Systems through Semidefinite-Programming Relaxations

David Jansen, Donato Farina, Luke Mortimer, Timothy Heightman, Andreas Leitherer, Pere Mujal, Jie Wang, and Antonio Acín

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050401 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Steady-State Phase Transition in One-Dimensional Quantum Contact Process

Lin Shang, Shuai Geng, Xingli Li, and Jiasen Jin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050402 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Reversing Heat Flow by Coherence in a Multipartite Quantum System

Keyi Huang, Qi Zhang, Xiangjing Liu, Ruiqing Li, Xinyue Long, Hongfeng Liu, Xiangyu Wang, Yu-ang Fan, Yuxuan Zheng, Yufang Feng, Yu Zhou, Jack Ng, Xinfang Nie, Zhong-Xiao Man, and Dawei Lu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050403 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

Recovery Dynamics of a Gap-Engineered Transmon after a Quasiparticle Burst

Heekun Nho, Thomas Connolly, Pavel D. Kurilovich, Spencer Diamond, Charlotte G. L. Bøttcher, Leonid I. Glazman, and Michel H. Devoret

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050601 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Efficient Benchmarking of Logical Magic State

Su-un Lee, Ming Yuan, Senrui Chen, Kento Tsubouchi, and Liang Jiang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050602 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Digital Quantum Simulation of Spin Transport

Yi-Ting Lee, Bibek Pokharel, Jeffrey Cohn, André Schleife, and Arnab Banerjee

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050603 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Tower of Structured Excited States from Measurements

Yuxuan Guo and Yuto Ashida

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050604 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

Long-Distance Distribution of Atom-Photon Entanglement Based on a Cavity-Free Cold Atomic Ensemble

Tian-Yu Wang, Ren-Hui Chen, Yan Li, Ze-Hao Shen, Xiao-Song Fan, Zheng-Bang Ju, Tian-Ci Tang, Xia-Wei Li, Jing-Yuan Peng, Zhi-Yuan Zhou, Wei Zhang, Guang-Can Guo, and Bao-Sen Shi

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050801 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Efficient and High-Fidelity Entanglement in Cavity QED without High Cooperativity

S. Goswami, C.-H. Chien, N. Sinclair, B. Grinkemeyer, S. Bennetts, Y.-C. Chen, and H. H. Jen

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 050802 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Cosmology, Astrophysics, and Gravitation

Lepton-Number Crossings are Insufficient for Flavor Instabilities

Damiano F. G. Fiorillo and Georg G. Raffelt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051001 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Particles and Fields

Integrable Spin Chains in Twisted Maximally Supersymmetric Yang-Mills Theory

Tim Meier and Stijn J. van Tongeren

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051601 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Topological Defect Formation beyond the Kibble-Zurek Mechanism in Crossover Transitions with Approximate Symmetries

Peng Yang, Chuan-Yin Xia, Sebastian Grieninger, Hua-Bi Zeng, and Matteo Baggioli

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051602 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Complete Next-to-Leading-Order Standard-Model-Effective-Field-Theory Electroweak Corrections to Higgs Decays

Luigi Bellafronte, Sally Dawson, Clara Del Pio, Matthew Forslund, and Pier Paolo Giardino

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051801 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Observation of the Rare Baryonic Decay $B^{+} \to p \bar{Λ}$ and Measurement of its Weak Decay Parameter

R. Aaij et al. (LHCb Collaboration)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051802 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Study of the Magnetic Dipole Transition of $J / ψ \to γ η_{c}$ via $η_{c} \to p \bar{p}$

M. Ablikim et al. (BESIII Collaboration)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051901 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Perturbative QCD Prediction of the Hyperon Electric Dipole Moment from $C P$ -Violating Dipole Interactions

Kai-Bao Chen, Xiao-Gang He, Jian-Ping Ma, and Xuan-Bo Tong

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 051902 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Nuclear Physics

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

From Spin to Pseudospin Symmetry: The Origin of Magic Numbers in Nuclear Structure

C. R. Ding, C. C. Wang, J. M. Yao, H. Hergert, H. Z. Liang, and S. K. Bogner

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 052501 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Calculations show how the mysterious “magic numbers” that stabilize nuclear structures emerge naturally from nuclear forces—once these are described with appropriate spatial resolution.

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Isomer Depletion of ${}^{93 m}{Mo}$ Triggered by Inelastic Nuclear Scattering Rather than Nuclear Excitation by Electron Capture

B. Ding (丁兵) et al.

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 052502 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

A new experiment shows that isomer depletion can be effectively induced when the highly charged isomeric ions slow down in a solid media.

High-Precision Measurement of $D (γ, n) p$ Photodisintegration Reaction and Implications for Big Bang Nucleosynthesis

Y. J. Chen, Z. R. Hao, J. J. He, T. Kajino, S.-I. Ando, Y. Luo, H. R. Feng, L. Y. Zhang, G. T. Fan, H. W. Wang, H. Zhang, Z. L. Shen, L. X. Liu, H. H. Xu, Y. Zhang, P. Jiao, X. Y. Li, Y. X. Yang, S. Jin, K. J. Chen, W. Q. Shen, and Y. G. Ma

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 052701 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics

Dissociative Electron Attachment to the ${HNC}_{3}$ Molecule

Elizabeth Aubin, Jean-Christophe Loison, Mehdi Ayouz, Joshua Forer, and Viatcheslav Kokoouline

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053001 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Radial Coupling at Conical Intersection Governs Competing Fragmentation Pathways in Halomethane Cations

Yupeng Liu, Cong-Cong Jia, Peipei Ge, Min Li, Xiaoqing Hu, Keyu Guo, Wei Cao, Yong Wu, Jianguo Wang, and Peixiang Lu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053201 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Liquid-Nitrogen-Cooled $^{40} {Ca}^{+}$ Ion Optical Clock with a Systematic Uncertainty of $4.4 \times 10^{- 19}$

Bao-lin Zhang, Zi-xiao Ma, Yao Huang, Hui-li Han, Ru-ming Hu, Yu-zhuo Wang, Hua-qing Zhang, Li-yan Tang, Ting-yun Shi, Hua Guan, and Ke-lin Gao

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053202 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Exceptional Point-Enhanced Rydberg Atomic Electrometers

Chao Liang, Ce Yang, Wei Huang, and Li You

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053203 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

Bottom-up Analysis of Rovibrational Helical Dichroism

Mateja Hrast, Georgios M. Koutentakis, Mikhail Maslov, and Mikhail Lemeshko

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053204 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

Enhancing Photon Indistinguishability of Spectrally Mismatched Single Photons by Cavity Floquet Engineering

Jia-Wang Yu, Xiao-Qing Zhou, Zhi-Bo Ni, Xiao-Tian Cheng, Yi Zhao, Hui-Hui Zhu, Chen-Hui Li, Feng Liu, and Chao-Yuan Jin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053601 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Giant Isotope Effect on the Excited-State Lifetime and Emission Efficiency of the Silicon T Center

Moein Kazemi, Mehdi Keshavarz, Mark E. Turiansky, John L. Lyons, Nikolay V. Abrosimov, Stephanie Simmons, Daniel B. Higginbottom, and Mike L. W. Thewalt

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053602 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Spin-Selective Topological Effects without Encircling Exceptional Points

Shun Wan, Yuze Hu, Ran Huang, Shiru Song, Hui Yang, Weibao He, Siyang Hu, Ziheng Ren, Zhongyi Yu, Yunlan Zuo, Yulong Zhang, Dongsheng Yang, Xiang’ai Cheng, Franco Nori, Hui Jing, and Tian Jiang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053801 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Spatiotemporal Thermalization and Adiabatic Cooling of Guided Light Waves

Lucas Zanaglia, Josselin Garnier, Iacopo Carusotto, Valérie Doya, Claire Michel, and Antonio Picozzi

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053802 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

Power-Law Scaling of Lasing-State Switching in Optical Microcavities

Qi-Tao Cao, Qing-Xin Ji, Pei-Ji Zhang, Chiao Wang, H. T. Quan, Pai Peng, Wenjing Liu, and Yun-Feng Xiao

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053803 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

FEATURED IN PHYSICS

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Observation of Lump Solitons

Ludovica Dieli, Davide Pierangeli, Fabio Baronio, Stefano Trillo, and Claudio Conti

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 053804 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Experiments with structured light beams provide the first observation of “lump” solitions, shape-preserving solitary waves in a two-dimensional setting.

Physics of Fluids, Earth & Planetary Science, and Climate

Angular Velocity of Kolmogorov-Scale Fibers as Proxy for Turbulent Dissipation

Domenico Zaza, Vlad Giurgiu, Michele Iovieno, and Alfredo Soldati

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 054001 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Plasma and Solar Physics, Accelerators and Beams

Superchanneling and Radiation of Ultrarelativistic Electron Beams in Disordered Porous Material

P. Chen, K. Jiang, T. W. Huang, R. Li, H. Peng, H. Zhang, S. Z. Wu, H. B. Zhuo, M. Y. Yu, and C. T. Zhou

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 055001 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Axisymmetric Eigenmodes Excited by Alpha Particle Energy Gradients in JET D-T Plasmas

H. J. C. Oliver, D. King, Ž. Štancar, S. E. Sharapov, D. Banerjee, T. Barberis, R. Coelho, I. Coffey, M. Dreval, M. Fitzgerald, L. Frassinetti, C. Giroud, N. Hawkes, D. Keeling, C. C. Kim, E. Lerche, F. Porcelli, and G. Szepesi (JET Contributors, EUROfusion Tokamak Exploitation Team)

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 055101 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Condensed Matter and Materials

Reemergence of a Polar Instability at High Pressure in ${KNbO}_{3}$

Mohamad Baker Shoker, Sitaram Ramakrishnan, Boris Croes, Olivier Cregut, Nicolas Beyer, Kokou D. Dorkenoo, Pierre Rodière, Björn Wehinger, Gaston Garbarino, Mohamed Mezouar, Marine Verseils, Pierre Fertey, Salia Cherifi-Hertel, Pierre Bouvier, and Mael Guennou

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056101 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Dynamical Superconducting Parity Effect in a Coulomb Pb Island

Wenhao Zhang, Xin Liao, James Jun He, Hui-Nan Xia, Tao Xie, Naoto Nagaosa, Tianyou Zhai, and Ying-Shuang Fu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056201 (2026) - Published 2 February, 2026

Cooper-pair condensation dynamics plays an indispensable role in a new type of superconducting parity effect in a Coulomb blockade system made up of nanosized Pb islands.

Spectral Similarity Masks Structural Diversity at Hydrophobic Water Interfaces

Yong Wang, Yifan Li, Linhan Du, Chunyi Zhang, Lorenzo Agosta, Marcos Calegari Andrade, Annabella Selloni, and Roberto Car

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056202 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Space Charge Drives Electromechanical Conversion in Ion-Implanted Polymers via an Apparent Piezoelectric Effect

Andris Šutka, Holger Fiedler, Artis Linarts, Kaspars Mālnieks, Kaspars Pudzs, Joseph D. Berry, and Peter C. Sherrell

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056203 (2026) - Published 6 February, 2026

Enhanced Transverse Electron Transport via Disordered Composite Formation

Sang J. Park, Hojun Lee, Jongjun M. Lee, Jangwoo Ha, Hyun-Woo Lee, and Hyungyu Jin

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056301 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Quantum Christoffel Nonlinear Magnetization

Xiao-Bin Qiang, Xiaoxiong Liu, Hai-Zhou Lu, and X. C. Xie

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056302 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Thermal Hall Conductivity of Semimetallic Graphite Dominated by Ambipolar Phonon Drag

Qiaochao Xiang, Xiaokang Li, Xiaodong Guo, Zengwei Zhu, and Kamran Behnia

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056303 (2026) - Published 3 February, 2026

Extended Landauer-Büttiker Formula for Current through Open Quantum Systems with Gain or Loss

Chao Yang and Yucheng Wang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056304 (2026) - Published 4 February, 2026

Ionic Thermoelectric Effect within the Framework of Thermoelectricity

Yidan Wu, Weigang Ma, and Xing Zhang

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056305 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

EDITORS' SUGGESTION

Pseudo-Landau Thermal Diffusion

Jun Guo, Guoqiang Xu, Mengqi Liu, Xue Zhou, Guangming Tao, and Cheng-Wei Qiu

Phys. Rev. Lett. 136, 056306 (2026) - Published 5 February, 2026

A synthetic pseudomagnetic field induces Landau-level-like quantization in heat diffusion, leading to a macroscopic quantum thermal Hall-like resistance plateau in a fundamentally dissipative system.