Successful development from a single cell to a complex, multicellular organism requires that cells differentiate in a coordinated and organized manner in response to a variety of signaling modalities. While the molecular underpinnings may be complex, the resulting phenomenon, in which a cell decides between one fate or another, is relatively simple. A body of work—rooted in dynamical systems theory—has formalized this notion of cellular decision making as flow in a Waddington-like landscape, in which cells evolve according to gradientlike dynamics within a potential that changes shape in response to a number of signals. We present a framework leveraging neural networks as universal function approximators to infer such a parametrized landscape from gene expression data. Inspired by the success of physics-informed machine learning in data-limited contexts, we enforce principled constraints motivated not by physical laws but by this phenomenological understanding of differentiation. Our data-driven approach infers a governing landscape atop a manifold situated within expression space, thereby describing the dynamics of interest in a biologically meaningful context. The resulting system provides an intuitive, visualizable, and interpretable model of cellular differentiation dynamics.

We study novel itinerant phases that can be accessed by doping a fractional quantum anomalous Hall (FQAH) insulator, with a focus on the experimentally observed Jain states at lattice filling $\nu =p/(2p+1)$. Unlike in the lowest Landau level, where charge motion is confined into cyclotron orbits, the charged excitations in the FQAH occupy Bloch states with well-defined crystal momenta. At a nonzero doping density, this feature enables the formation of itinerant states of the doped anyons just beyond the FQAH plateau region. Focusing on the vicinity of $\nu =2/3$, we describe a few possible itinerant states, including a topological superconductor with chiral neutral fermion edge modes as well as a more exotic pair density wave (PDW) superconductor with non-Abelian topological order. A Fermi liquid metal with a doping-induced period-3 charge density wave also occurs naturally in our analysis. This Fermi liquid (as well as the PDW) arises from pairing instabilities of a composite Fermi liquid metal that can emerge near filling $2/3$. Though inspired by the theory of anyon superconductivity, we explain how our construction is qualitatively different. At a general Jain filling $\nu =p/(2p+1)$, the same analytical framework leads to a wider variety of phases, including higher-charge superconductors and generalized composite Fermi liquids. We predict unusual physical signatures associated with each phase and analyze the crossover between different temperature regimes. These results provide a proof-of-principle that exotic itinerant phases can be stabilized by correlations intrinsic to the FQAH setup.

Time estimation is a fundamental task that underpins precision measurement, global navigation systems, financial markets, and the organization of everyday life. Many biological processes also depend on time estimation by nanoscale clocks, whose performance can be significantly impacted by random fluctuations. In this work, we formulate the problem of optimal time estimation for Markovian stochastic processes, and present its general solution in the asymptotic (longtime) limit. Specifically, we obtain a tight upper bound on the precision of any time estimate constructed from sustained observations of a classical, Markovian jump process. This bound is controlled by the mean residual time, i.e., the expected wait before the first jump is observed. As a consequence, we obtain a universal bound on the signal-to-noise ratio of arbitrary currents and counting observables in the steady state. This bound is similar in spirit to the kinetic uncertainty relation but provably tighter, and we explicitly construct the counting observables that saturate it. Our results establish ultimate precision limits for an important class of observables in nonequilibrium systems and demonstrate that the mean residual time, not the dynamical activity, is the measure of freneticity that tightly constrains fluctuations far from equilibrium.

The Středa formula establishes a fundamental physical connection between the topological invariants characterizing the bulk of topological matter and the presence of gapless edge modes. In this work, we extend the Středa formula to periodically driven systems, providing a rigorous framework to elucidate the unconventional bulk-boundary correspondence of Floquet systems while offering a physically grounded link between Floquet winding numbers and tractable response functions. Using the Sambe representation of periodically driven systems, we analyze the response of the unbounded Floquet density of states to a magnetic perturbation. This Floquet-Středa response is regularized through Cesàro summation, yielding a well-defined, quantized result within spectral gaps. The response features two physically distinct contributions: a quantized charge flow between edge and bulk and an anomalous energy flow between the system and the drive, offering new insight into the nature of anomalous edge states. This fundamental result rigorously connects Floquet winding numbers to the orbital magnetization density of Floquet states and holds broadly, from clean to disordered and inhomogeneous systems. This is further supported by providing a real-space formulation of the Floquet-Středa response, which introduces a local topological marker suited for periodically driven settings. In translationally invariant systems, the framework yields a remarkably simple expression for Floquet winding numbers involving geometric properties of Floquet-Bloch bands. A concrete experimental protocol is proposed to extract the Floquet-Středa response via particle-density measurements in systems coupled to engineered baths. Finally, by expressing the topological invariants through the magnetic response of the Floquet density of states, this approach opens a promising route toward the topological characterization of interacting driven phases.

Hybrid multiterminal Josephson junctions (JJs) are expected to harbor a novel class of Andreev bound states (ABSs), including topologically nontrivial states in four-terminal devices. In these systems, topological phases emerge when ABSs depend on at least three superconducting phase differences, resulting in a three-dimensional (3D) energy spectrum characterized by Weyl nodes at zero energy. Here, we realize a four-terminal JJ in a hybrid $\mathrm{Al}/\mathrm{InAs}$ heterostructure, where ABSs form a synthetic 3D band structure. We probe the energy spectrum using tunneling spectroscopy and identify spectral features associated with the formation of a tri-Andreev molecule, a bound state whose energy depends on three superconducting phases and, therefore, is able to host topological ABSs. The experimental observations are well described by a numerical model. The calculations predict the appearance of four Weyl nodes at zero energy within a gap smaller than the experimental resolution. These topological states are theoretically predicted to remain stable within an extended region of the parameter space, well accessible by our device. These findings establish an experimental foundation to study high-dimensional synthetic band structures in multiterminal JJs and to realize topological Andreev bands.

Non-Abelian gauge theories provide the most accurate description of fundamental interactions, showing remarkable agreement with experimental data in cosmology and particle physics. Highly precise predictions can be made using standard techniques, both in the continuum and in the lattice frameworks. However, classical methods have limitations, particularly when attempting to extrapolate the continuum limit from the study of lattice gauge theories. Complementing classical computations or combining them with quantum computational methods, to improve the predictions toward the continuum limit with current quantum resources, is a formidable open challenge. In this paper, we propose a resource-efficient method to compute the running of the coupling in non-Abelian gauge theories beyond one spatial dimension. We first represent the Hamiltonian on periodic lattices in terms of loop variables and conjugate loop electric fields, exploiting the Gauss law to retain the gauge-independent ones. Then, we identify a local basis for small and large loops variationally to minimize the truncation error while computing the running of the coupling on small tori. Our method enables computations at arbitrary values of the bare coupling and lattice spacing with current quantum computers, simulators, and tensor-network calculations, in regimes otherwise inaccessible.

“Strange” metals that do not follow the predictions of Fermi liquid theory are prevalent in materials that feature superconductivity arising from electron interactions. In recent years, it has been hypothesized that spatial randomness in electron interactions must play a crucial role in strange metals for their hallmark linear-in-temperature ($T$) resistivity to survive down to low temperatures where phonon and umklapp processes are ineffective, as is observed in experiments. However, a clear picture of how this happens has not yet been provided in a realistic model free from artificial constructions, such as large-$N$ limits and replica tricks. We study a realistic model of two-dimensional metals with spatially random antiferromagnetic interactions in a nonperturbative regime, using numerically exact high-performance, large-scale hybrid Monte Carlo simulation and exact averages over the quenched spatial randomness. Our simulations reproduce strange metals’ key experimental signature of linear-in-$T$ resistivity with a universal “Planckian” transport scattering rate ${\mathrm{\Gamma }}_{\mathrm{tr}}\sim k_{B}T/\hslash$ that is independent of coupling constants. We further find that strange metallicity in these systems is not associated with a quantum critical point and, instead, arises from a phase of matter with gapless antiferromagnetic fluctuations that lacks long-range correlations and spans an extended region of parameter space: A feature that is also observed in several experiments. These gapless antiferromagnetic fluctuations take the form of spatially localized overdamped modes, whose presence could possibly be detected using recently developed nanoscale magnetometry methods. Our work paves the way for an eventual microscopic understanding of the role of spatial disorder in determining important properties of correlated-electron materials.

Recent progress in tabletop experiments offers the opportunity to show, for the first time, that gravity is not compatible with a classical description. In all current experimental proposals, such as the generation of gravitationally induced entanglement between two quantum sources of gravity, gravitational effects can be explained solely with the Newton potential, namely, in a regime that is consistent with the weak-field limit of general relativity and does not probe the field nature of gravity. Hence, the Newtonian origin of the effects is a limitation to the conclusions on the nature of gravity that can be drawn from these experiments. Here, we identify two effects that overcome this limitation: They cannot be reproduced using the Newton potential, and they are independent of graviton emission. First, we show that the interaction between two generic quantum sources of gravity, e.g., in wide Gaussian states, cannot be reproduced with the Newton potential nor with a known classical theory of gravity. Second, we show that the quantum commutator between the gravitational field and its canonically conjugate momentum appears as an additional term in the relative phase of a generic quantum source interacting with a test particle. Observing these two effects would give further quantitative information and stronger evidence, compared to experiments only involving the Newton potential, to show that gravity is nonclassical. More broadly, identifying stronger quantum aspects of gravity than those reproducible with the Newton potential is crucial to prove the nonclassicality of gravity and to plan a new generation of experiments testing quantum aspects of gravity in a broader sense than what has been proposed so far.

We report on a single-shot longitudinal phase-space reconstruction diagnostic for electron beams in a laser wakefield accelerator via the experimental observation of distinct periodic modulations in the angularly resolved spectra. Such modulated angular spectra arise as a result of the direct interaction between the ultrarelativistic electron beam and the laser driver in the presence of the wakefield. A constrained theoretical model for the coupled oscillator, assisted by a genetic algorithm, can recreate the experimental electron spectra and, thus, fully reconstructs the longitudinal phase-space distribution of the electron beam with a temporal resolution of approximately 1.3 fs. In particular, it reveals the slice energy spread of the electron beam, which is important to measure for applications such as x-ray free electron lasers. In our experiment, the root-mean-square slice energy spread retrieved is bounded at 9.9 MeV, corresponding to a 0.9%–3.0% relative spread, despite the overall GeV energy beam having approximately 100% relative energy spread.

The mechanical properties of biological materials are spatially heterogeneous. Typical tissues are made up of a spanning fibrous extracellular matrix in which various inclusions, such as living cells, are embedded. While the influence of embedded inclusions on the stiffness of common elastic materials such as rubber has been studied for decades and can be understood in terms of the volume fraction and shape of inclusions, the same is not true for disordered filamentous and fibrous networks. Recent work has shown that, in isolation, such networks exhibit unusual viscoelastic behavior indicative of an underlying mechanical phase transition controlled by network connectivity and strain. How this behavior is modified when inclusions are present is unclear. Here, we present a theoretical and computational study of the influence of rigid inclusions on the mechanics of disordered elastic networks near the connectivity-controlled central-force rigidity transition. Combining scaling theory and coarse-grained simulations, we predict and confirm an anomalously strong dependence of the composite stiffness on inclusion volume fraction, beyond that seen in ordinary composites. This stiffening exceeds the well-established volume-fraction-dependent stiffening expected in conventional composites, e.g., as an elastic analog of the classic volume-fraction-dependent increase in the viscosity of liquids first identified by Einstein. We show that this enhancement is a consequence of the interplay between interparticle spacing and an emergent correlation length, leading to an effective finite-size scaling imposed by the presence of inclusions. We outline the expected scaling of the linear shear modulus and strain fluctuations with the inclusion volume fraction and network connectivity, confirm these predictions in simulations, and discuss potential experimental tests and implications for our predictions in real systems.

The classification of topological phases of matter is a fundamental challenge in quantum many-body physics, with applications to quantum technology. Recently, this classification has been extended to the setting of adaptive finite-depth local unitary (AFDLU) circuits, which allow global classical communication. In this setting, the trivial phase is the collection of all topological states that can be prepared via AFDLU. Here, we propose a complete classification of the trivial phase by showing how to prepare all solvable anyon theories that admit a gapped boundary via AFDLU, extending recent results on solvable groups. Our construction includes non-Abelian anyons with irrational quantum dimensions, such as Ising anyons, and more general acyclic anyons. Specifically, we introduce a sequential gauging procedure, with an AFDLU implementation, to produce a string-net ground state in any topological phase described by a solvable anyon theory with gapped boundary. In addition, we introduce a sequential ungauging and regauging procedure, with an AFDLU implementation, to apply string operators of arbitrary length for anyons and symmetry twist defects in solvable anyon theories. We apply our procedure to the quantum double of the group $S_3$ and to several examples that are beyond solvable groups, including the doubled Ising theory, the ${\mathbb{Z}}_3$ Tambara-Yamagami string net, and doubled $\mathrm{SU}(2{)}_4$ anyons.

Systems such as Wigner crystals and incommensurate charge density waves that spontaneously break a continuous translation symmetry have unusual transport properties arising from their ability to slide coherently in space. Recent experimental and theoretical studies suggest that spontaneous translation symmetry breaking in some two-dimensional materials with nontrivial quantum geometry (e.g., rhombohedral pentalayer graphene) leads to a topologically nontrivial electron crystal state called the anomalous Hall crystal and characterized by a vanishing linear-response dc longitudinal conductivity and a nonvanishing Hall conductivity. In this work we present a theoretical investigation of the sliding dynamics of this new type of electron crystal, taking into account the system’s nontrivial quantum geometry. We find that when accelerated by an external electric field, the crystal acquires a transverse anomalous velocity that stems from not only the Berry curvature of the parent band but also the Galilean noninvariance of the crystal state (i.e., crystal states with different momenta are not related by simple momentum boosts). We further show that acceleration of the crystal modifies its internal current from the static crystal value that is determined by the Chern number of the crystal state. The net Hall conductance including contributions from center-of-mass motion and internal current is in general not quantized. As an experimentally relevant example, we present numerical results in rhombohedral pentalayer graphene and discuss possible experimental implications.

Nonequilibrium states of quantum materials can exhibit exotic properties and enable unprecedented functionality and applications. These transient states are inherently inhomogeneous, characterized by the formation of topologically protected structures, requiring nanometer spatial resolution on femtosecond timescales to resolve their evolution. Using ultrafast total x-ray scattering at a free electron laser and a sophisticated scaling analysis, we gain unique access to the dynamics on the relevant mesoscopic length scales. Our results provide direct evidence that ultrafast excitation of ${\mathrm{LaTe}}_3$ leads to formation of topological vortex strings of the charge density wave. These dislocations of the charge density wave exhibit anomalous, subdiffusive dynamics, slowing the equilibration process, providing rare insight into the nonequilibrium mesoscopic response in a quantum material. Our findings establish a general framework to investigate properties of topological defects, which are expected to be ubiquitous in nonequilibrium phase transitions and may arrest equilibration and enhance competing orders.

Magnetoelectric effects and their coupling to light helicity are important for both fundamental science and applications in sensing, communication, and data storage. Traditional approaches require complex device architectures, involving separate spin-injection, ferromagnetic, and optically active layers. Recently, the emergence of 2D semiconductor moiré superlattices with flat Chern bands and strong light-matter interactions has established a simple yet powerful platform for exploring the coupling between photon, electron, and spin degrees of freedom. Here, we report efficient current control of spontaneous ferromagnetism and associated helicity of light emission in moiré ${\mathrm{MoTe}}_2$ bilayer—a system which hosts a rich variety of topological phases, including newly discovered zero-field fractional Chern insulators. We show that the current control is effective over a wide range of doping of the first moiré Chern band, implying the uniformity of the Berry curvature distribution over the flat band. By setting the system into the anomalous Hall metal phase, a current as small as 10 nA is sufficient to switch the magnetic order, a substantial improvement over both conventional spin-torque architectures and other moiré systems. The realized current control of ferromagnetism leads to continuous tuning of trion photoluminescence helicity from left to right circular via spin-valley Hall torque at zero magnetic field. Our results pave the way for topological optospintronics based on semiconductors with synthetic flat Chern bands.

In physical networks trained using supervised learning, physical parameters are adjusted to produce desired responses to inputs. An example is an electrical contrastive local learning network of nodes connected by edges that adjust their conductances during training. When an edge conductance changes, it upsets the current balance of every node. In response, physics adjusts the node voltages to minimize the dissipated power. Learning in these systems is therefore a coupled double-optimization process, in which the network descends both a cost landscape in the high-dimensional space of edge conductances and a physical landscape—the power dissipation—in the high-dimensional space of node voltages. Because of this coupling, the physical landscape of a trained network contains information about the learned task. Here, we derive a structure-function relation for trained tunable networks and demonstrate that all the physical information relevant to the trained input-output relation can be captured by a tuning susceptibility, an experimentally measurable quantity. We supplement our theoretical results with simulations to show that the tuning susceptibility is correlated with functional importance and that we can extract physical insight into how the system performs the task from the conductances of highly susceptible edges. Our analysis is general and can be applied directly to mechanical networks, such as networks trained for protein-inspired function such as allostery.

Highly frequency-stable lasers are ubiquitous tools for optical-frequency metrology, precision interferometry, and quantum information science. While making a universally applicable laser is unrealistic, spectral noise can be tailored for specific applications. Here we report a high-power 698-nm clock laser with a maximum output of 4W and minimized frequency noise up to a few kHz Fourier frequency, together with long-term instability of $3.5\times {10}^{-17}$ at one to thousands of seconds. The laser-frequency noise is precisely characterized with atom-based spectral analysis that employs a pulse sequence designed to suppress sensitivity to intensity noise. This method provides universally applicable tunability of the spectral response and analysis of quantum sensors over a wide frequency range. With the optimized laser system characterized by this technique, we achieve an average single-qubit Clifford gate fidelity of up to $F_1^2=0.99964(3)$ when simultaneously driving 3000 optical qubits with a homogeneous Rabi frequency ranging from 10 Hz to 1 kHz. This result represents the highest single optical-qubit-gate fidelity for a large number of atoms.

Thermodynamic principles governing energy and information are important tools for a deeper understanding and better control of quantum systems. In this work, we experimentally investigate the interplay of the thermodynamic costs and information flow in a quantum system undergoing iterative quantum measurement and feedback. Our study employs a state stabilization protocol involving repeated measurement and feedback on an electronic spin qubit associated with a silicon-vacancy center in diamond, which is strongly coupled to a diamond nanocavity. This setup allows us to verify the fundamental laws of nonequilibrium quantum thermodynamics, including the second law and the fluctuation theorem, both of which incorporate measures of quantum information flow induced by iterative measurement and feedback. We further assess the reducible entropy based on the feedback’s causal structure and quantitatively demonstrate the thermodynamic advantages of non-Markovian feedback over Markovian feedback. For that purpose, we extend the theoretical framework of quantum thermodynamics to include the causal structure of the applied feedback protocol. Our work lays the foundation for investigating the entropic and energetic costs of real-time quantum control in various quantum systems.

Random-access quantum memories may offer computational advantages for quantum computers and networks. In this paper, we advance arrays of solid-state quantum memories toward their usage as random-access quantum memory. We perform quantum storage of path and time-bin qubits implemented with weak coherent states at the single-photon level, in an array of ten temporally multiplexed memory cells with controllable addressing. The qubits can be stored in arbitrary combinations of memory cells, from which they are read out on demand. We find average fidelities of ${95}_{-2}^{+2}\%$ for path qubits and ${91}_{-2}^{+2}\%$ for time-bin qubits. The measured fidelities violate the classical bounds for both encodings and for all ten cells. We also sequentially store a time-bin qubit in two different memory cells, maintain both qubits simultaneously in the array, and perform a collective readout. The individual control paired with high storage fidelity represents a significant advance toward a solid-state random-access quantum memory for quantum repeaters and photonic quantum processors.

We present the theoretical derivation and numerical implementation of the linear-response equations for relativistic quantum-electrodynamical density functional theory (QEDFT). In contrast to previous works based on the Pauli-Fierz Hamiltonian, our approach describes electrons interacting with photonic cavity modes at the four-component Dirac-Kohn-Sham level, derived from fully relativistic QED through a series of established approximations. Moreover, we show that a new type of spin-orbit-like (SO) cavity-mediated interaction appears under the relativistic description of the coupling of matter with quantized cavity modes. Benchmark calculations performed for atoms of group 12 elements (Zn, Cd, Hg) demonstrate how a relativistic treatment enables the description of exciton polaritons that arise from the hybridization of formally forbidden singlet-triplet transitions with cavity modes. For atoms in cavities tuned on resonance with a singlet-triplet transition, we discover a significant interplay between SO effects and coupling to an off-resonant intense singlet-singlet transition. This dynamic relationship highlights the crucial role of ab initio approaches in understanding cavity quantum electrodynamics. Finally, using the mercury porphyrin complex as an example, we show that relativistic linear-response QEDFT provides computationally feasible first-principles calculations of polaritonic states in large heavy-element-containing molecules of chemical interest.

The ${{}^{1}S}_0-{{}^{3}P}_0$ clock transition in strontium serves as the foundation for the world’s best atomic clocks and for gravitational wave detector concepts in clock atom interferometry. This transition is weakly allowed in the fermionic isotope ${}^{87}\mathrm{Sr}$ but strongly forbidden in bosonic isotopes. Here, we demonstrate coherent excitation of the clock transition in bosonic ${}^{88}\mathrm{Sr}$ using a novel collinear three-photon process in a weak magnetic field. We observe Rabi oscillations with frequencies of up to 50 kHz using $\mathrm{W}/{\mathrm{cm}}^2$ laser intensities and Gauss-level magnetic field amplitudes. The absence of nuclear spin in bosonic isotopes offers decreased sensitivity to magnetic fields and optical lattice light shifts, enabling atomic clocks with reduced systematic errors. The collinear propagation of the laser fields permits the interrogation of spatially separated atomic ensembles with common laser pulses, a key requirement for dark matter searches and gravitational wave detection with next-generation quantum sensors.