Optical techniques adopted in optical computing rely on spatial multiplexing, requiring numerous integrated elements and restricting the architecture to perform a single kernel convolution per layer. The authors demonstrate a fiber-optic computing architecture based on temporal multiplexing that performs multiple convolutions in a single layer.

The mechanism behind the transient emergence of superconductivity upon irradiation with light in some materials is highly debated, which is in part due to the strong correlations at play. Here, the authors investigate the dynamical emergence of superconductivity in the strongly correlated, yet exactly solvable, Yukawa-Sachdev-Ye-Kitaev model and discuss differences and similarities to the relaxation dynamics of conventional superconductors.

Developing cryogenic memory is a crucial undertaking in advancing superconducting logic systems. Here, the authors demonstrate the realization of a superconducting memory cell, whose state is encoded by the number of current vortices within a Josephson junction, and the readout employs microwave currents for an energy-efficient, non-destructive process.

Optical beams carrying orbital angular momentum (OAM) are promising candidates for free-space optical communication. The authors devise a hybrid optical-electronic convolutional neural network approach reaching a 4-bit OAM-coded signal demultiplexing accuracy of 72.84% under strong atmospheric turbulence conditions with 3.2 times faster training time than all electronic convolutional neural network.

Precision measurements with atom interferometers benefit from reducing the expansion rate of the atomic ensemble within the interferometric beam through matter-wave collimation. Here we demonstrate a collimation method based on time-averaged optical potentials and tunable interactions, realizing expansion energies of a few hundred picokelvin.

The first-order phase boundary between the liquid and gaseous phases ends at a critical point where the fluid, kept at thermodynamic equilibrium, displays a turbidity known as ‘critical opalescence’. The authors quench a fluid across its critical point, find blackness instead of turbidity, and argue that, out of equilibrium, photons can be absorbed, not merely scattered.

Topological solitons can be realised in a range of platforms that have the potential for processing topologically protected information. Here, the authors identify a class of vector solitons in a mechanical lattice, showing superposed kinks and invertible polarizations, with implications for nonlinear topological mechanics.

Baryon Acoustic Oscillations (BAO) are formed in the early universe and can be measured galaxy redshift survey to probe dark energy, but this feature is degraded with galaxy structure evolution. The authors propose a method that simultaneously use pre- and post-reconstruction power spectra to extract higher order information for surveys to constrain cosmological models.

Multiple parameter estimation techniques are employed to empirically validate theoretical propositions regarding complex systems by discerning relevant free parameters from often scarce experimental data. In this tutorial, the authors provide a beginner’s guide to parameter estimation via adjoint optimization, and show its efficiency in prototypical problems across different fields of physics.

Directed hypergraphs emerge as a potent framework for analyzing social contagion phenomena, incorporating the nuances of individual heterogeneity and the amplifying effects of environmental contagion reinforcement. The authors demonstrate that the interval of bistability within discontinuous phase transitions contracts with diminishing directedness strength

Active nematics are driven, non-equilibrium systems relevant to tissue mechanics and morphogenesis in biology, and with prospects as active metamaterials. The authors study the three-dimensional spontaneous flow transition with normal anchoring and show that it involves both chiral and rotational symmetry breaking, resulting in a fully three-dimensional flow with a twisted director field.

Quantum networks require a synergistic integration of terrestrial infrastructure employing optical fibers and wireless free-space communication technologies. In their study, the authors numerically investigate a satellite-based entanglement distribution and quantum teleportation across diverse freespace communication channels, such as diffraction or turbulence, finding that entanglement preservation endures throughout the downlink (satellite-to-ground) propagation for over 1000 km.

Silicon carbide polytypes (SiC) exhibit second-order optic nonlinearity to act as on-chip nonlinear and quantum light sources, but their integration is typically challenging. The authors demonstrate the performance of 3C-SiC --a fully integrable polytype-- as an on-chip quantum light source based on its second-order susceptibility.