A generic theory of the quasiparticle superconducting gap in underdoped cuprates is derived in the strong-coupling limit, and found to describe the experimental “second gap” in absolute scale. In drastic contrast to the standard pairing gap associated with Bogoliubov quasiparticle excitations, the quasiparticle gap is shown to originate from anomalous kinetic (scattering) processes, with a size unrelated to the pairing strength. Consequently, the $k$ dependence of the gap deviates significantly from the pure $d_{x^2-y^2}$ wave of the order parameter. Our study reveals a new paradigm for the nature of the superconducting gap, and is expected to reconcile numerous apparent contradictions among existing experiments and point toward a more coherent understanding of high-temperature superconductivity.

The in-plane resistivity $\rho$ and thermal conductivity $\kappa$ of the heavy-fermion superconductor ${\mathrm{Ce}}_2{\mathrm{PdIn}}_8$ single crystals were measured down to 50 mK. A field-induced quantum critical point, occurring at the upper critical field $H_{c2}$, is demonstrated from the $\rho (T)\sim T$ near $H_{c2}$ and $\rho (T)\sim T^2$ when further increasing the field. The large residual linear term ${\kappa }_0/T$ at zero field and the rapid increase of $\kappa (H)/T$ at low field give evidence for nodal superconductivity in ${\mathrm{Ce}}_2{\mathrm{PdIn}}_8$. The jump of $\kappa (H)/T$ near $H_{c2}$ suggests a first-order-like phase transition at low temperature. These results mimic the features of the famous ${\mathrm{CeCoIn}}_5$ superconductor, implying that ${\mathrm{Ce}}_2{\mathrm{PdIn}}_8$ may be another interesting compound to investigate for the interplay between magnetism and superconductivity.

Using self-consistent mean-field and functional renormalization-group approaches, we show that $s$-wave pairing symmetry is robust in the heavily electron-doped iron chalcogenides $A{\mathrm{Fe}}_{2-x}{\mathrm{Se}}_2$, where $A=\mathrm{K},\text{}\mathrm{Cs}$. Recent neutron scattering experiments suggest that the effective nearest-neighbor spin exchange may be ferromagnetic in chalcogenides. This is different from the iron pnictides, where the nearest-neighbor magnetic exchange coupling is believed to be antiferromagnetic and leads to strong competition between $s$-wave and $d$-wave pairing in the electron-overdoped region. Our finding of a robust $s$-wave pairing in $(\mathrm{K},\text{}\mathrm{Cs}){\mathrm{Fe}}_{2-x}{\mathrm{Se}}_2$ differs from the $d$-wave pairing result obtained by other theories where nonlocal bare interaction terms and the next-to-nearest-neighbor $J_2$ term are underestimated. Detecting the pairing symmetry in $(\mathrm{K},\text{}\mathrm{Cs}){\mathrm{Fe}}_{2-x}{\mathrm{Se}}_2$ may hence provide important insights regarding the mechanism of superconducting pairing in iron-based superconductors.

Recent developments in sensing technologies have enabled us to examine the nature of human social behavior in greater detail. By applying an information-theoretic method to the spatiotemporal data of cell-phone locations, [C. Song et al., Science 327, 1018 (2010)] found that human mobility patterns are remarkably predictable. Inspired by their work, we address a similar predictability question in a different kind of human social activity: conversation events. The predictability in the sequence of one’s conversation partners is defined as the degree to which one’s next conversation partner can be predicted given the current partner. We quantify this predictability by using the mutual information. We examine the predictability of conversation events for each individual using the longitudinal data of face-to-face interactions collected from two company offices in Japan. Each subject wears a name tag equipped with an infrared sensor node, and conversation events are marked when signals are exchanged between sensor nodes in close proximity. We find that the conversation events are predictable to a certain extent; knowing the current partner decreases the uncertainty about the next partner by 28.4% on average. Much of the predictability is explained by long-tailed distributions of interevent intervals. However, a predictability also exists in the data, apart from the contribution of their long-tailed nature. In addition, an individual’s predictability is correlated with the position of the individual in the static social network derived from the data. Individuals confined in a community—in the sense of an abundance of surrounding triangles—tend to have low predictability, and those bridging different communities tend to have high predictability.

Resonantly enhanced emission from the zero-phonon line of a diamond nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in single crystal diamond is demonstrated experimentally using a hybrid whispering gallery mode nanocavity. A 900 nm diameter ring nanocavity formed from gallium phosphide, whose sidewalls extend into a diamond substrate, is tuned onto resonance at a low temperature with the zero-phonon line of a negatively charged NV center implanted near the diamond surface. When the nanocavity is on resonance, the zero-phonon line intensity is enhanced by approximately an order of magnitude, and the spontaneous emission lifetime of the NV is reduced by as much as 18%, corresponding to a 6.3X enhancement of emission in the zero photon line.

Nanowire diodes have been realized by employing an axial heterojunction between InAs and InSb semiconductor materials. The broken-gap band alignment (type III) leads to a strong rectification effect when the current-voltage (I-V) characteristic is inspected at room temperature. The additional insertion of a narrow InP barrier reduces the thermionic contribution, which results in a net decrease of leakage current in the reverse bias with a corresponding enhanced rectification in terms of asymmetry in the I-V characteristics. The investigated diodes compare favorably with the ones realized with $p\mathrm{\text{−}}n$ heterostructured nanowires, making InAs/InP/InSb devices appealing candidates to be used as building blocks for nanowire-based ultrafast electronics and for the realization of photodetectors in the THz spectral range.

We solve the Schrödinger equation for various quantum regimes describing a tunneling macrospin coupled to a torsional oscillator. The energy spectrum and freezing of spin tunneling are studied. Magnetic susceptibility, noise spectrum, and decoherence due to entanglement of spin and mechanical modes are computed. We show that the presence of a tunneling spin can be detected via splitting of the mechanical mode at the resonance. Our results apply to experiments with magnetic molecules coupled to nanoresonators.

It is demonstrated that acoustic levitation is able to produce amorphous forms from a variety of organic molecular compounds with different glass forming abilities. This can lead to enhanced solubility for pharmaceutical applications. High-energy x-ray experiments show that several viscous gels form from saturated pharmaceutical drug solutions after 10–20 min of levitation at room temperature, most of which can be frozen in solid form. Laser heating of ultrasonically levitated drugs can also result in the vitrification of molecular liquids, which is not attainable using conventional amorphization methods.

We demonstrate quantum coherent control of single electronic spins in a nitron-vacancy center in diamond by exploiting and implementing the general concept of Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry at room temperature. The interferometry manipulates an effective two-level system of electronic spins which are coupled to the nearby ${}^{14}\mathrm{N}$ nuclear spin in the nitron-vacancy center as well as the nuclear spin bath in the diamond. With a microwave field to control the energy gap between the two levels and an AC field as the time-dependent driving field in Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry, the interference pattern can be generated and controlled by controlling a number of parameters in the fields, corresponding to coherent control of the state of the electronic spins. In particular, the interference pattern is observed oscillating as a function of the frequency of the microwave field. Decays in the visibility of the interference pattern are also observed and well explained by numerical simulation which takes into account the thermal fluctuations arising from the nuclear bath. Therefore, our work also demonstrates that Landau-Zener-Stückelberg interferometry can be used for probing decoherence processes of electronic spins.

We present a method to create nondispersing rotational quantum states in an ensemble of linear molecules with a well-defined rotational speed in the laboratory frame. Using a sequence of transform-limited laser pulses, we show that these states can be established through a process of rapid adiabatic passage. Coupling between the rotational and pendular motion of the molecules in the laser field can be used to control the detailed angular shape of the rotating ensemble. We describe applications of these rotational states in molecular dissociation and ultrafast metrology.

We investigate a model for spatial epidemics explicitly taking into account bidirectional movements between base and destination locations on individual mobility networks. We provide a systematic analysis of generic dynamical features of the model on regular and complex metapopulation network topologies and show that significant dynamical differences exist to ordinary reaction-diffusion and effective force of infection models. On a lattice we calculate an expression for the velocity of the propagating epidemic front and find that, in contrast to the diffusive systems, our model predicts a saturation of the velocity with an increasing traveling rate. Furthermore, we show that a fully stochastic system exhibits a novel threshold for the attack ratio of an outbreak that is absent in diffusion and force of infection models. These insights not only capture natural features of human mobility relevant for the geographical epidemic spread, they may serve as a starting point for modeling important dynamical processes in human and animal epidemiology, population ecology, biology, and evolution.