The average time $T$ required for high-fidelity readout of quantum states can be significantly reduced via a real-time adaptive decision rule. An adaptive decision rule stops the readout as soon as a desired level of confidence has been achieved, as opposed to setting a fixed readout time $t_f$. The performance of the adaptive decision is characterized by the “adaptive-decision speedup,” $t_f/T$. In this work, we reformulate this readout problem in terms of the first-passage time of a particle undergoing stochastic motion. This formalism allows us to theoretically establish the maximum achievable adaptive-decision speedups for several physical two-state readout implementations. We show that for two common readout schemes (the Gaussian latching readout and a readout relying on state-dependent decay), the speedup is bounded by 4 and 2, respectively, in the limit of high single-shot readout fidelity. We experimentally study the achievable speedup in a real-world scenario by applying the adaptive decision rule to a readout of the nitrogen-vacancy-center (NV-center) charge state. We find a speedup of $\approx 2$ with our experimental parameters. In addition, we propose a simple readout scheme for which the speedup can, in principle, be increased without bound as the fidelity is increased. Our results should lead to immediate improvements in nanoscale magnetometry based on spin-to-charge conversion of the NV-center spin, and provide a theoretical framework for further optimization of the bandwidth of quantum measurements.

We show that it is possible to have a topological phase in two-dimensional quasicrystals without any magnetic field applied, but instead introducing an artificial gauge field via dynamic modulation. This topological quasicrystal exhibits scatter-free unidirectional edge states that are extended along the system’s perimeter, contrary to the states of an ordinary quasicrystal system, which are characterized by power-law decay. We find that the spectrum of this Floquet topological quasicrystal exhibits a rich fractal (self-similar) structure of topological “minigaps,” manifesting an entirely new phenomenon: fractal topological systems. These topological minigaps form only when the system size is sufficiently large because their gapless edge states penetrate deep into the bulk. Hence, the topological structure emerges as a function of the system size, contrary to periodic systems where the topological phase can be completely characterized by the unit cell. We demonstrate the existence of this topological phase both by using a topological index (Bott index) and by studying the unidirectional transport of the gapless edge states and its robustness in the presence of defects. Our specific model is a Penrose lattice of helical optical waveguides—a photonic Floquet quasicrystal; however, we expect this new topological quasicrystal phase to be universal.

An ensemble of pulse-coupled phase oscillators is thoroughly analyzed in the presence of a mean-field coupling and a dispersion of their natural frequencies. In spite of the analogies with the Kuramoto setup, a much richer scenario is observed. The “synchronized” phase, which emerges upon increasing the coupling strength, is characterized by highly irregular fluctuations: A time-series analysis reveals that the dynamics of the order parameter is indeed high dimensional. The complex dynamics appears to be the result of the nonperturbative action of a suitably shaped phase-response curve. Such a mechanism differs from the often-invoked balance between excitation and inhibition and might provide an alternative basis to account for the self-sustained brain activity in the resting state. The potential interest of this dynamical regime is further strengthened by its (microscopic) linear stability, which makes it quite suited for computational tasks. The overall study has been performed by combining analytical and numerical studies, starting from the linear stability analysis of the asynchronous regime, to include the Fourier analysis of the Kuramoto order parameter, the computation of various types of Lyapunov exponents, and a microscopic study of the interspike intervals.

Spatial confinement induces microscopic ordering of fluids, which in turn alters many of their dynamic and thermodynamic properties. However, the isothermal compressibility has hitherto been largely overlooked in the literature, despite its obvious connection to the underlying microscopic structure and density fluctuations in confined geometries. Here, we address this issue by probing density profiles and structure factors of hard-sphere fluids in various narrow slits, using x-ray scattering from colloid-filled nanofluidic containers and integral-equation-based statistical mechanics at the level of pair distributions for inhomogeneous fluids. Most importantly, we demonstrate that density fluctuations and isothermal compressibilities in confined fluids can be obtained experimentally from the long-wavelength limit of the structure factor, providing a formally exact and experimentally accessible connection between microscopic structure and macroscopic, thermodynamic properties. Our approach will thus, for example, allow direct experimental verification of theoretically predicted enhanced density fluctuations in liquids near solvophobic interfaces.

We report on the highest precision yet achieved in the measurement of the polarization of a low-energy, $\mathcal{O}(1\mathrm{GeV})$, continuous-wave (CW) electron beam, accomplished using a new polarimeter based on electron-photon scattering, in Hall C at Jefferson Lab. A number of technical innovations were necessary, including a novel method for precise control of the laser polarization in a cavity and a novel diamond microstrip detector that was able to capture most of the spectrum of scattered electrons. The data analysis technique exploited track finding, the high granularity of the detector, and its large acceptance. The polarization of the $180\text{−}\mu \mathrm{A}$, 1.16-GeV electron beam was measured with a statistical precision of $<1\%$ per hour and a systematic uncertainty of 0.59%. This exceeds the level of precision required by the $Q_{\text{weak}}$ experiment, a measurement of the weak vector charge of the proton. Proposed future low-energy experiments require polarization uncertainty $<0.4\%$, and this result represents an important demonstration of that possibility. This measurement is the first use of diamond detectors for particle tracking in an experiment. It demonstrates the stable operation of a diamond-based tracking detector in a high radiation environment, for two years.

During the past 70 years, the quantum theory of angular momentum has been successfully applied to describing the properties of nuclei, atoms, and molecules, and their interactions with each other as well as with external fields. Because of the properties of quantum rotations, the angular-momentum algebra can be of tremendous complexity even for a few interacting particles, such as valence electrons of an atom, not to mention larger many-particle systems. In this work, we study an example of the latter: a rotating quantum impurity coupled to a many-body bosonic bath. In the regime of strong impurity-bath couplings, the problem involves the addition of an infinite number of angular momenta, which renders it intractable using currently available techniques. Here, we introduce a novel canonical transformation that allows us to eliminate the complex angular-momentum algebra from such a class of many-body problems. In addition, the transformation exposes the problem’s constants of motion, and renders it solvable exactly in the limit of a slowly rotating impurity. We exemplify the technique by showing that there exists a critical rotational speed at which the impurity suddenly acquires one quantum of angular momentum from the many-particle bath. Such an instability is accompanied by the deformation of the phonon density in the frame rotating along with the impurity.

As carriers slowly move through a disordered energy landscape in organic semiconductors, tiny spatial variations in spin dynamics relieve spin blocking at transport bottlenecks or in the electron-hole recombination process that produces light. Large room-temperature magnetic-field effects (MFEs) ensue in the conductivity and luminescence. Sources of variable spin dynamics generate much larger MFEs if their spatial structure is correlated on the nanoscale with the energetic sites governing conductivity or luminescence such as in coevaporated organic blends within which the electron resides on one molecule and the hole on the other (an exciplex). Here, we show that exciplex recombination in blends exhibiting thermally activated delayed fluorescence produces MFEs in excess of 60% at room temperature. In addition, effects greater than 4000% can be achieved by tuning the device’s current-voltage response curve by device conditioning. Both of these immense MFEs are the largest reported values for their device type at room temperature. Our theory traces this MFE and its unusual temperature dependence to changes in spin mixing between triplet exciplexes and light-emitting singlet exciplexes. In contrast, spin mixing of excitons is energetically suppressed, and thus spin mixing produces comparatively weaker MFEs in materials emitting light from excitons by affecting the precursor pairs. Demonstration of immense MFEs in common organic blends provides a flexible and inexpensive pathway towards magnetic functionality and field sensitivity in current organic devices without patterning the constituent materials on the nanoscale. Magnetic fields increase the power efficiency of unconditioned devices by 30% at room temperature, also showing that magnetic fields may increase the efficiency of the thermally activated delayed fluorescence process.

Bubbles are dynamic objects that grow and rise or shrink and disappear, often on the scale of seconds. This conflicts with their uses in foams where they serve to modify the properties of the material in which they are embedded. Coating the bubble surface with solid particles has been demonstrated to strongly enhance the foam stability, although the mechanisms for such stabilization remain mysterious. In this paper, we reduce the problem of foam stability to the study of the behavior of a single spherical bubble coated with a monolayer of solid particles. The behavior of this armored bubble is monitored while the ambient pressure around it is varied, in order to simulate the dissolution stress resulting from the surrounding foam. We find that above a critical stress, localized dislocations appear on the armor and lead to a global loss of the mechanical stability. Once these dislocations appear, the armor is unable to prevent the dissolution of the gas into the surrounding liquid, which translates into a continued reduction of the bubble volume, even for a fixed overpressure. The observed route to the armor failure therefore begins from localized dislocations that lead to large-scale deformations of the shell until the bubble completely dissolves. The critical value of the ambient pressure that leads to the failure depends on the bubble radius, with a scaling of $\mathrm{\Delta }{P}_{\text{collapse}}\propto R^{-1}$, but does not depend on the particle diameter. These results disagree with the generally used elastic models to describe particle-covered interfaces. Instead, the experimental measurements are accounted for by an original theoretical description that equilibrates the energy gained from the gas dissolution with the capillary energy cost of displacing the individual particles. The model recovers the short-wavelength instability, the scaling of the collapse pressure with bubble radius, and the insensitivity to particle diameter. Finally, we use this new microscopic understanding to predict the aging of particle-stabilized foams, by applying classical Ostwald ripening models. We find that the smallest armored bubbles should fail, as the dissolution stress on these bubbles increases more rapidly than the armor strength. Both the experimental and theoretical results can readily be generalized to more complex particle interactions and shell structures.

Collective motions emerging from the interaction of autonomous mobile individuals play a key role in many phenomena, from the growth of bacterial colonies to the coordination of robotic swarms. For these collective behaviors to take hold, the individuals must be able to emit, sense, and react to signals. When dealing with simple organisms and robots, these signals are necessarily very elementary; e.g., a cell might signal its presence by releasing chemicals and a robot by shining light. An additional challenge arises because the motion of the individuals is often noisy; e.g., the orientation of cells can be altered by Brownian motion and that of robots by an uneven terrain. Therefore, the emphasis is on achieving complex and tunable behaviors from simple autonomous agents communicating with each other in robust ways. Here, we show that the delay between sensing and reacting to a signal can determine the individual and collective long-term behavior of autonomous agents whose motion is intrinsically noisy. We experimentally demonstrate that the collective behavior of a group of phototactic robots capable of emitting a radially decaying light field can be tuned from segregation to aggregation and clustering by controlling the delay with which they change their propulsion speed in response to the light intensity they measure. We track this transition to the underlying dynamics of this system, in particular, to the ratio between the robots’ sensorial delay time and the characteristic time of the robots’ random reorientation. Supported by numerics, we discuss how the same mechanism can be applied to control active agents, e.g., airborne drones, moving in a three-dimensional space. Given the simplicity of this mechanism, the engineering of sensorial delay provides a potentially powerful tool to engineer and dynamically tune the behavior of large ensembles of autonomous mobile agents; furthermore, this mechanism might already be at work within living organisms such as chemotactic cells.

The efficient calculation of rare-event kinetics in complex dynamical systems, such as the rate and pathways of ligand dissociation from a protein, is a generally unsolved problem. Markov state models can systematically integrate ensembles of short simulations and thus effectively parallelize the computational effort, but the rare events of interest still need to be spontaneously sampled in the data. Enhanced sampling approaches, such as parallel tempering or umbrella sampling, can accelerate the computation of equilibrium expectations massively, but sacrifice the ability to compute dynamical expectations. In this work we establish a principle to combine knowledge of the equilibrium distribution with kinetics from fast “downhill” relaxation trajectories using reversible Markov models. This approach is general, as it does not invoke any specific dynamical model and can provide accurate estimates of the rare-event kinetics. Large gains in sampling efficiency can be achieved whenever one direction of the process occurs more rapidly than its reverse, making the approach especially attractive for downhill processes such as folding and binding in biomolecules. Our method is implemented in the PyEMMA software.

The structure of the electrical double layer has been debated for well over a century, since it mediates colloidal interactions, regulates surface structure, controls reactivity, sets capacitance, and represents the central element of electrochemical supercapacitors. The surface potential of such surfaces generally exceeds the electrokinetic potential, often substantially. Traditionally, a Stern layer of nonspecifically adsorbed ions has been invoked to rationalize the difference between these two potentials; however, the inability to directly measure the surface potential of dispersed systems has rendered quantitative measurements of the Stern layer potential, and other quantities associated with the outer Helmholtz plane, impossible. Here, we use x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy from a liquid microjet to measure the absolute surface potentials of silica nanoparticles dispersed in aqueous electrolytes. We quantitatively determine the impact of specific cations (${\mathrm{Li}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{Na}}^{+}$, ${\mathrm{K}}^{+}$, and ${\mathrm{Cs}}^{+}$) in chloride electrolytes on the surface potential, the location of the shear plane, and the capacitance of the Stern layer. We find that the magnitude of the surface potential increases linearly with the hydrated-cation radius. Interpreting our data using the simplest assumptions and most straightforward understanding of Gouy-Chapman-Stern theory reveals a Stern layer whose thickness corresponds to a single layer of water molecules hydrating the silica surface, plus the radius of the hydrated cation. These results subject electrical double-layer theories to direct and falsifiable tests to reveal a physically intuitive and quantitatively verified picture of the Stern layer that is consistent across multiple electrolytes and solution conditions.

We show that the well-known Čerenkov effect contains new phenomena arising from the quantum nature of charged particles. The Čerenkov transition amplitudes allow coupling between the charged particle and the emitted photon through their orbital angular momentum and spin, by scattering into preferred angles and polarizations. Importantly, the spectral response reveals a discontinuity immediately below a frequency cutoff that can occur in the optical region. Near this cutoff, the intensity of the conventional Čerenkov radiation (ČR) is very small but still finite, while our quantum calculation predicts exactly zero intensity above the cutoff. Below that cutoff, with proper shaping of electron beams (ebeams), we predict that the traditional ČR angle splits into two distinctive cones of photonic shockwaves. One of the shockwaves can move along a backward cone, otherwise considered impossible for conventional ČR in ordinary matter. Our findings are observable for ebeams with realistic parameters, offering new applications including novel quantum optics sources, and opening a new realm for Čerenkov detectors involving the spin and orbital angular momentum of charged particles.

Failure and flow of amorphous materials are central to various phenomena including earthquakes and landslides. There is accumulating evidence that the yielding transition between a flowing and an arrested phase is a critical phenomenon, but the associated exponents are not understood, even at a mean-field level where the validity of popular models is debated. Here, we solve a mean-field model that captures the broad distribution of the mechanical noise generated by plasticity, whose behavior is related to biased Lévy flights near an absorbing boundary. We compute the exponent $\theta$ characterizing the density of shear transformation $P(x)\sim x^{\theta }$, where $x$ is the stress increment beyond which they yield. We find that after an isotropic thermal quench, $\theta =1/2$. However, $\theta$ depends continuously on the applied shear stress; this dependence is not monotonic, and its value at the yield stress is not universal. The model rationalizes previously unexplained observations and captures reasonably well the value of exponents in three dimensions. Values of exponents in four dimensions are accurately predicted. These results support the fact that it is the true mean-field model that applies in large dimensions, and they raise fundamental questions about the nature of the yielding transition.

Charge fluctuations in nanocircuits with capacitor components are shown to give rise to a novel type of long-ranged interaction, which coexist with the regular Casimir–van der Waals force. The developed theory distinguishes between thermal and quantum mechanical effects, and it is applied to capacitors involving graphene nanostructures. The charge fluctuations mechanism is captured via the capacitance of the system with geometrical and quantum mechanical components. The dependence on the distance separation, temperature, size, and response properties of the system shows that this type of force can have a comparable and even dominant effect to the Casimir interaction. Our results strongly indicate that fluctuation-induced interactions due to various thermodynamic quantities can have important thermal and quantum mechanical contributions at the microscale and the nanoscale.

We show, computationally and analytically, that asymmetrically shaped walls can organize the flow of pedestrians driven in opposite directions through a corridor. Precisely, a two-lane ordered state emerges in which people always walk on the left-hand side (or right-hand side), controlled by the system’s parameters. This effect depends on features of the channel geometry, such as the asymmetry of the profile and the channel width, as well as on the density and the drift velocity of pedestrians, and the intensity of noise. We investigate in detail the influence of these parameters on the flow and discover a crossover between ordered and disordered states. Our results show that an ordered state only appears within a limited range of drift velocities. Moreover, increasing noise may suppress such flow organization, but the flow is always sustained. This is in contrast with the “freezing by heating” phenomenon according to which pedestrians tend to clog in smooth channels for strong noise [Phys. Rev. Lett. 84, 1240 (2000)]. Therefore, the ratchetlike effect proposed here acts on the system not only to induce a “keep-left” behavior but also to prevent the freezing by heating clogging phenomenon. Besides pedestrian flow, this new phenomenon has other potential applications in microfluidics systems.

A qubit can relax by fluorescence, which prompts the release of a photon into its electromagnetic environment. By counting the emitted photons, discrete quantum jumps of the qubit state can be observed. The succession of states occupied by the qubit in a single experiment, its quantum trajectory, depends in fact on the kind of detector. How are the quantum trajectories modified if one measures continuously the amplitude of the fluorescence field instead? Using a superconducting parametric amplifier, we perform heterodyne detection of the fluorescence of a superconducting qubit. For each realization of the measurement record, we can reconstruct a different quantum trajectory for the qubit. The observed evolution obeys quantum state diffusion, which is characteristic of quantum measurements subject to zero-point fluctuations. Independent projective measurements of the qubit at various times provide a quantitative verification of the reconstructed trajectories. By exploring the statistics of quantum trajectories, we demonstrate that the qubit states span a deterministic surface in the Bloch sphere at each time in the evolution. Additionally, we show that when monitoring fluorescence field quadratures, coherent superpositions are generated during the decay from excited to ground state. Counterintuitively, measuring light emitted during relaxation can give rise to trajectories with increased excitation probability.

Integrins, a class of membrane proteins involved in cell adhesion, participate in the cell’s sensing of the mechanical environments. We previously showed that, for the initial cell adhesion to occur, single integrins need to experience a threshold force of 40 pico-Newton (pN) through their bond with surface-bound ligands. This force requirement was determined using a series of double-stranded DNA tethers called tension gauge tethers (TGTs), each with a different rupture force, linked to the ligand. Here, we performed cell-adhesion experiments using surfaces coated with two different TGTs, one of a strong rupture force (around 54 pN) and the other of a weak rupture force (around 12 pN). When presented with one type of TGT only, cells adhered to the strong TGT-coated surface but not to the weak TGT-coated surface. However, when presented with both, the presence of the strong TGTs transforms the way cells respond to the weak TGTs such that cells treat both TGTs the same, as if the weak TGTs were strong. Furthermore, a subpopulation of cells can adhere to and spread on a surface displaying just a few molecules of the strong TGTs per cell if, and only if, they are presented along with many weak TGTs. This ultrasensitivity to just a few tethers that can withstand strong forces raises a question of how the cells can achieve such remarkable sensitivity to their mechanical environment without amplifying noise.

Studying the interaction of molecular nitrogen with extreme ultraviolet (XUV) radiation is of prime importance to understand radiation-induced processes occurring in Earth’s upper atmosphere. In particular, photoinduced dissociation dynamics involving excited states of ${{\mathrm{N}}_2}^{+}$ leads to N and ${\mathrm{N}}^{+}$ atomic species that are relevant in atmospheric photochemical processes. However, tracking the relaxation dynamics of highly excited states of ${{\mathrm{N}}_2}^{+}$ is difficult to achieve, and its theoretical modeling is notoriously complex. Here, we report on an experimental and theoretical investigation of the dissociation dynamics of ${{\mathrm{N}}_2}^{+}$ induced by isolated attosecond XUV pulses in combination with few-optical-cycle near-infrared/visible (NIR/VIS) pulses. The momentum distribution of the produced ${\mathrm{N}}^{+}$ fragments is measured as a function of pump-probe delay with subfemtosecond resolution using a velocity map imaging spectrometer. The time-dependent measurements reveal the presence of NIR/VIS-induced transitions between ${{\mathrm{N}}_2}^{+}$ states together with an interference pattern that carries the signature of the potential energy curves activated by the XUV pulse. We show that the subfemtosecond characterization of the interference pattern is essential for a semiquantitative determination of the repulsive part of these curves.

Nonlocality is arguably among the most counterintuitive phenomena predicted by quantum theory. In recent years, the development of an abstract theory of nonlocality has brought a much deeper understanding of the subject, revealing a rich and complex phenomenon. In the current work, we present a systematic experimental exploration of the limits of quantum nonlocality. Using a versatile and high-fidelity source of pairs of polarization-entangled photons, we explore the boundary of quantum correlations, demonstrate the counterintuitive effect of more nonlocality with less entanglement, present the most nonlocal correlations ever reported, and achieve quantum correlations requiring the use of complex qubits. All of our results are in remarkable agreement with quantum predictions, and thus represent a thorough test of quantum theory. Pursuing such an approach is nevertheless highly desirable, as any deviation may provide evidence of new physics beyond the quantum model.