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Identifying potential mechanisms behind opinion formation is key to curb the spread of misinformation and fake news. Here, the authors propose a model of opinion formation on a network of relations of trust and distrust between subjects, and show that opinion instability increases with the complexity and size of the system, proposing a candidate mechanism for how trust towards deceptive sources develops.
While temperature chaos is an equilibrium notion that denotes the extreme fragility of the glassy phase with respect to temperature changes, it remains unclear whether it is present in non-equilibrium dynamics. Here the authors use the Janus II supercomputer to prove the existence of dynamic temperature chaos, a nonequilibrium phenomenon that closely mimics equilibrium temperature chaos.
Phase-contrast in tapping-mode atomic force microscopy has been interpreted using homogeneous distributions that ignore fluctuations. Here, the validity of this assumption is challenged, revealing tip-induced heterogeneous contributions.
An open question in the field of granular materials and non-equilibrium physics is the origin and interpretation of frictional effects and spatiotemporal fluctuation in the discontinuous shear thickening transition. Here, the authors study numerically the spatiotemporal fluctuations of local injected power across the discontinuous shear thickening transition, finding that rare fluctuations caused by frictional forces are governed by a simple fluctuation relation and the emergence of collective behavior in the particle’s torque.
Enhancing light-matter interaction at gigahertz rates has so far been achieved by structural modification of materials, but does not allow the behaviour to be switched on-demand. Here, an alternative method using pulsed light is presented that provides improved control.
Topological materials are extensively studied in condensed matter physics and several have been studied to the point where it is now time to ask if these unique materials have a role to play in next generation technologies. The author reviews the current status of well-characterized topological materials such as Bi2Se3 for electronic device applications, focusing on selected technological aspects and their promise for engineering applications.
Magnetic molecules deposited on a metallic substrate constitute a method to engineer the spin properties of the molecule and has potential application in low-power information storage devices. Here, the authors investigate a superconductor/molecule/normal metal heterostructure and demonstrate spin-ordering and proximity induced superconducting properties at the metallo-molecular interface.
The reduced dimensions of 2D materials make them an ideal platform to realise quantum many-body effects such as the formation of exciton complexes. Here, using first principles calculations the authors investigate biexcitons in WSe2 monolayers and uncover the role electron-hole exchange interaction plays in the valley characteristics of the biexciton.
The design of meta-optics and photonics components poses a number of high-dimensional, fabrication-constrained, computationally expensive optimization problems. Here, the authors propose a framework based on algorithmic differentiation to optimize arbitrary meta-optical devices with any shape or topology, enabling rapid inverse design of photonics and complex meta-optical devices.
Streamer coupling theory is traditionally used to engineer the generation of diffuse plasmas in the regime preceding filamentary discharge, but this method remains inefficient. Here, an alternative route to cost-efficient diffuse plasma generation is proposed, involving the expansion and quenching of existing filamentary discharge.
A Kramers Weyl semimetal has a chiral crystal structure and is thought to exhibit unique physical properties due to the chiral lattice symmetry. Here, the authors theoretically demonstrate that this class of material can exhibit a strong longitudinal magnetoelectric response that could be used for magnetic switching in a ferromagnetic system.
Three-dimensional (3D) strongly correlated many-body systems and their dynamics across quantum phase transitions pose a challenge when it comes to numerical simulations. The authors experimentally demonstrated that such many-body dynamics can be efficiently studied in a 3D spinor Bose–Hubbard model quantum simulator, and observed dynamics and scaling effects beyond the scope of existing theories at superfluid–insulator quantum phase transitions.
With no direct coupling between spin and light, transient magnetic switching typically proceeds on longer timescales and requires indirect coupling via electric fields. Here, a model based on quantum kinetic equations for the density matrix that characterizes the non-equilibrium quantum state is proposed to describe the response of an antiferromagnetic phase to electron quantum transport during oscillation cycles of a Terahertz electric field.
Supersymmetric (SUSY) transformations, which originated in quantum physics offer a robust, physics-based approach to design photonic structures. The authors apply second-order SUSY to engineer non-uniform surface corrugation of waveguide gratings and coupling potential, and its application in photonics.
Existing low-temperature thermometers can only perform with high precision within a narrow range. Here, the authors provide a bound for global thermometry across a wide range, including the design of optimal thermometers with the state-of-the-art quantum technologies.
The magnetic, electronic, and structural properties of a quantum material are intrinsically linked. In f-electron systems, such as cerium-based materials, this interplay can be exceedingly complex. Here, the authors investigate the antiferromagnet CeAuSb2 using a Kondo lattice model in order to resolve the changes in conductance that occur with variations in the magnetic spin texture as function of applied magnetic field.
The ability of optically dark states to protect against decoherence makes them useful for the generation of entangled photons. Here, a continuous stream of single photons is generated by a controllable quantum Zeno effect between entangled atom–photon states.
Most attempts to delineate quantum machine-learning-related computing capabilities of continuous variables states have relied on non-Gaussian resources. Here, the authors show that linear systems with continuous-variable Gaussian states are a promising platform for the implementation of quantum reservoir computers with universal approximation capabilities
The spin Hall effect is typically used to generate a spin current and is a key parameter for designing spintronic devices. Here, the authors theoretically demonstrate an anomalous spin Hall and inverse spin Hall effect and demonstrate how they can generate a spin current where the direction and polarisation does not occur perpendicular to the charge current.
