Theoretical physics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Strings or long chains are prone to knotting. Here, the authors demonstrate that the vortex structure of quantum wavefunctions, such as that in a simple harmonic oscillator, can also contain knots, whose topological complexity can be a descriptor of the spatial order of the system.

    • Alexander J. Taylor
    •  & Mark R. Dennis

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The ultimate understanding of glassy phenomena will impact fields ranging from materials science to biophysics. Here, the authors report a heterogeneous mixture of slow relaxing spins and fast fluctuating spins, in analogy to slush as a mixture of ice and liquid water.

    • Jeffrey G. Rau
    •  & Michel J. P. Gingras

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A central concept in thermodynamics is the thermal state, which is the one towards which the system relaxes. Here, the authors derive the same state, through three different approaches, in the case of a quantum system whose conserved quantities correspond to operators that do not commute with one another.

    • Nicole Yunger Halpern
    • , Philippe Faist
    •  & Andreas Winter

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The second law of thermodynamics constrains how much of a conserved quantity, such as energy, can be extracted from a system in the form of work. Here, the authors generalize this law to quantum systems whose conserved quantities need not commute, showing that it is their combination to be constrained.

    • Yelena Guryanova
    • , Sandu Popescu
    •  & Paul Skrzypczyk

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Collective modes of amplitude and phase are decoupled in equilibrium systems, limiting the understanding of competing orders in correlated material. Here, Krull et al. report that a non-adiabatic pump pulse can induce an intricate coupling between Leggett and Higgs modes, providing a way to couple collective modes in non-equilibrium condition.

    • H. Krull
    • , N. Bittner
    •  & A. P. Schnyder

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The second law of thermodynamics says that the efficiency of a heat engine is limited by the Carnot efficiency. Here, the authors use finite-size-scaling theory to investigate whether this ultimate limit can be achieved at finite power using quantum Otto engines.

    • Michele Campisi
    •  & Rosario Fazio

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Graphene plasmons have gained significant interest thanks to their high field confinement and low phase velocity. Here the authors show theoretically that charge carriers propagating in graphene can excite plasmons through a quantum Čerenkov emission process in two dimensions, in the form of plasmonic shock waves.

    • Ido Kaminer
    • , Yaniv Tenenbaum Katan
    •  & Marin Soljačić

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Analogue quantum simulators could provide insights into complex dynamics, but realizing them in a scalable way remains a technological challenge. Here, the authors demonstrate how two-dimensional arrays of three ions trapped in individually controlled wells could form a scalable platform for quantum simulation.

    • Manuel Mielenz
    • , Henning Kalis
    •  & Tobias Schaetz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    No noncontextual hidden-variable model can be consistent with quantum theory, but proving such an inconsistency with nature itself is a long-standing problem. Here, the authors devise experimentally-achievable tests of noncontextuality and perform a photonic implementation that rules out such models.

    • Michael D. Mazurek
    • , Matthew F. Pusey
    •  & Robert W. Spekkens

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Ultraviolet-visible molecular excited states (excitons) may couple to collective excitations in metals (plasmons) to form plexitons, which transfers energy ballistically over tens of microns. Here, the authors propose a plexitonic system which exhibits Dirac points and topologically nontrivial band structure.

    • Joel Yuen-Zhou
    • , Semion K. Saikin
    •  & Marc A. Baldo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Materials possessing anisotropic spin exchange interactions can support skyrmion quasiparticle spin textures, which may be exploited in nanomagnetic devices. Here, the authors predict the appearance of skyrmions in multilayered thin films of biatomic Fe sandwiched between 4d and 5dtransition metals.

    • B. Dupé
    • , G. Bihlmayer
    •  & S. Heinze

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Studying quantum transport in biological systems is difficult so developing an artificial platform that can be used to understand quantum transport is desirable. Here, Caruso, et al. demonstrate how a quantum walker can quickly reach the output of a maze by partially suppressing the presence of interference.

    • Filippo Caruso
    • , Andrea Crespi
    •  & Roberto Osellame

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Entanglement distribution between distant parties is an essential component to most quantum communication protocols, but losses and decoherence present in real systems degrade it. Here the authors demonstrate an efficient iterative entanglement distillation protocol that does not rely on quantum memories.

    • Daniela Abdelkhalek
    • , Mareike Syllwasschy
    •  & Roman Schnabel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Spin models appear in several fields of physics and beyond, but solving many of them is a task for which no general efficient classical algorithm is known to exist. Here the authors demonstrate how a variety of spin glass models can be implemented and solved, via quantum simulation, in a system of trapped ions.

    • Tobias Graß
    • , David Raventós
    •  & Maciej Lewenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neutron scattering measurements of spin-ice materials contain signature pinch-point singularities, demonstrating the existence of an emergent electromagnetic gauge field. Here, the authors propose a system in which correlations manifest in pinch lines, which may have already been observed experimentally.

    • Owen Benton
    • , L.D.C. Jaubert
    •  & Nic Shannon

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Design of high-speed graphene-based devices relies on understanding of its ultrafast carrier dynamics. Here, the authors combine time-resolved terahertz spectroscopy and microscopic modelling to unveil the interplay between the scattering mechanisms dominating the ultrafast relaxation pathways in graphene.

    • Momchil T. Mihnev
    • , Faris Kadi
    •  & Theodore B. Norris

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Calculating the secret key rate for a given quantum key distribution protocol is challenging. Here the authors develop a numerical approach for calculating the key rate for arbitrary discrete-variable QKD protocols, which could lead to automated security analysis of realistic systems.

    • Patrick J. Coles
    • , Eric M. Metodiev
    •  & Norbert Lütkenhaus

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The evolution of a quantum state undergoing radiative decay depends on how the emission is detected. Here, the authors demonstrate how continuous field detection, as opposed to the more common detection of energy quanta, allows control of the back-action on the emitter’s state.

    • M. Naghiloo
    • , N. Foroozani
    •  & K. W. Murch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The maximal rate at which quantum information can be reliably communicated through many uses of a memoryless quantum channel is determined by its quantum channel capacity. Here, the authors demonstrate that such an asymptotic characterization is insufficient in practical scenarios.

    • Marco Tomamichel
    • , Mario Berta
    •  & Joseph M. Renes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum walks are a potential framework for developing quantum algorithms, but have so far been limited to analogue quantum-simulation approaches that do not scale. Here, the authors provide a protocol for simulating exponentially large quantum walks using a polynomial number of quantum gates and qubits.

    • Xiaogang Qiang
    • , Thomas Loke
    •  & Jonathan C. F. Matthews

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum interferometry suffers from residual distinguishability between input photons. Here, the authors show theoretically and experimentally, in a two-photon measurement, how to overcome this by manipulating additional degrees of freedom.

    • Michał Jachura
    • , Radosław Chrapkiewicz
    •  & Konrad Banaszek

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Topological phases play a fundamental role in a variety of physical systems, yet there is a lack of efficient tools for revealing the occurrence of associated quantum transitions. Here, Cardano et al.report that such transitions can be identified in the statistics of quantum-walk dynamics and validate this idea in a photonic experimental implementation.

    • Filippo Cardano
    • , Maria Maffei
    •  & Lorenzo Marrucci

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum mechanics allows to generate nearly ideal random strings from initially weak random sources, important for security of data systems, but this remains elusive in practice. Here the authors propose a realistic, error-tolerant and secure protocol for randomness amplification of arbitrary bits.

    • Fernando G. S. L. Brandão
    • , Ravishankar Ramanathan
    •  & Hanna Wojewódka

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Transferring quantum information is a fundamental task, but doing so with high fidelity is a challenging task. Here, the authors implement the perfect state transfer protocol to a photonic qubit, entangled with a second one in a different location, across eleven coupled waveguides.

    • Robert J. Chapman
    • , Matteo Santandrea
    •  & Alberto Peruzzo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    To exploit the internal structure of molecules it is necessary to reach very low temperatures, but this is made impractical by long relaxation times for molecular vibrations. Here the authors provide a theoretical description for the existence of a large class of systems exhibiting efficient vibrational cooling.

    • Thierry Stoecklin
    • , Philippe Halvick
    •  & Eric R. Hudson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Flexible information routing underlies the function of many biological and artificial networks. Here, the authors present a theoretical framework that shows how information can be flexibly routed across networks using collective reference dynamics and how local changes may induce remote rerouting.

    • Christoph Kirst
    • , Marc Timme
    •  & Demian Battaglia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum vacuum fluctuations can create pairs of virtual particles that annihilate each other. Here, the authors show that the conventional theory that these particles have no measurable effect on real particles does not apply to anyons, exotic quasiparticles that are intermediate between fermions and bosons.

    • Cheolhee Han
    • , Jinhong Park
    •  & H.-S. Sim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fourier analysis has become a standard tool in contemporary science. Here, Weimann et al. report classical and quantum optical realizations of the discrete fractional Fourier transform, a generalization of the Fourier transform, with potential applications in integrated quantum computation.

    • Steffen Weimann
    • , Armando Perez-Leija
    •  & Alexander Szameit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organizing and manipulating dynamic processes is important to understand and influence many natural phenomena. Here, the authors present a method to design entrainment signals that create stable phase patterns in heterogeneous nonlinear oscillators, and verify it in electrochemical reactions.

    • Anatoly Zlotnik
    • , Raphael Nagao
    •  & Jr-Shin Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Superconducting circuits offer great promise for quantum computing, but implementations require careful shielding from control electronics. Here, the authors take inspirations from semiconductor spin-based qubits to design Josephson junctions quantum circuits whose qubits do not require microwave control.

    • Yun-Pil Shim
    •  & Charles Tahan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Rapid urbanization burdens urban road infrastructures, but understanding the interplay of road infrastructure and travel patterns is a complex challenge. Here, authors use mobile phone traces during morning peak hours to evaluate the effect of a congestion relief approach under a centralized routing scheme.

    • Serdar Çolak
    • , Antonio Lima
    •  & Marta C. González

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Social dilemmas force players to balance between personal and collective gain. Here, inspired by the negotiations for greenhouse-gas emission limitations, the authors experimentally studied a representative-based collective-risk scenario, reporting the emergence of extortionate zero-determinant (ZD) strategies.

    • Manfred Milinski
    • , Christian Hilbe
    •  & Jochem Marotzke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Systems composed of many interacting dynamic networks exhibit complicated collective dynamics. Here, the authors study failure, damage spread and recovery in two interacting networks, constructing the phase diagram and revealing the role of triple points for optimal damage repair.

    • Antonio Majdandzic
    • , Lidia A. Braunstein
    •  & Shlomo Havlin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The relaxation of closed macroscopic systems towards thermal equilibrium is an ubiquitous experimental fact, but very difficult to characterize theoretically. Here, the author establishes a quantitative description of such relaxation under arbitrary typical conditions, capturing well experimental data.

    • Peter Reimann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Anomalous conducting behavior of solids may reflect the presence of novel quantum states. Here, Zhang et al. report an increased conductivity in TaAs with a magnetic field applied along the direction of the current, which reveals an inherent property of the Weyl Fermion.

    • Cheng-Long Zhang
    • , Su-Yang Xu
    •  & Shuang Jia

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A power grid is constrained by both its nonlinear physics and network structure, and violations of these constraints may lead to voltage collapse blackouts, which have been studied mostly numerically. Here the authors derive a closed-form condition to provide an analytic test for voltage collapse.

    • John W. Simpson-Porco
    • , Florian Dörfler
    •  & Francesco Bullo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Computational speedup in photonic quantum devices depends on multi-particle interference, which must be certified through known benchmark algorithms. Here, to this end, the authors develop a scalable approach for the implementation of the fast Fourier transform algorithm in 3D photonic integrated interferometers.

    • Andrea Crespi
    • , Roberto Osellame
    •  & Fabio Sciarrino

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Active matter can be described as either wet or dry, depending on whether hydrodynamics or frictional damping dominates the interactions. Here, the authors show that an increase in friction can stabilise the chaotic flow observed in wet active systems to give an ordered lattice of topological defects.

    • Amin Doostmohammadi
    • , Michael F. Adamer
    •  & Julia M. Yeomans

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Many transport networks exhibit a core–periphery structure, where few nodes are highly interconnected and the rest form a tree-shaped structure. Here, the authors demonstrate how to generate such a structure through a pruning process based on removal of underutilized links and redistribution of loads.

    • T. Verma
    • , F. Russmann
    •  & H.J. Herrmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Persistent homology allows identification of topological features in data sets, allowing the efficient extraction of useful information. Here, the authors propose a quantum machine learning algorithm that provides an exponential speed up over known algorithms for topological data analysis.

    • Seth Lloyd
    • , Silvano Garnerone
    •  & Paolo Zanardi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The crystal formation waiting time of a homogeneous supercooled liquid exhibits a pronounced minimum depending on temperature, and this minimum is a measure of glass forming ability. Here, the authors propose an expression for this minimum for all metallic glasses that depends only on two fitting parameters.

    • W. L. Johnson
    • , J. H. Na
    •  & M. D. Demetriou

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum state tomography is the process of retrieving the values that define a quantum system, but realizing it experimentally can be burdensome. Here, the authors provide an alternative approach via the expectation values of a set of non-Hermitian matrices, and characterize a 100,000-dimensional state.

    • Eliot Bolduc
    • , Genevieve Gariepy
    •  & Jonathan Leach

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Overload failures propagate through hidden functional dependencies across networked systems. Here, the authors study the spatio-temporal propagation behaviour of cascading overload failures, and find that they spread radially from their origin with an approximately constant velocity.

    • Jichang Zhao
    • , Daqing Li
    •  & Shlomo Havlin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Identifying influential nodes in networks is important for the understanding of their structure and function, but there are several so far unrelated measures to assess this. Here, the authors unfold relations among knows criteria and construct a family of indices that interpolate between degree and coreness.

    • Linyuan Lü
    • , Tao Zhou
    •  & H. Eugene Stanley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Quantum tunnelling may be advantageous for quantum annealing, but multiqubit tunnelling has not yet been observed or characterized theoretically. Here, the authors demonstrate that 8-qubit tunnelling plays a role in a D-Wave Two device through a nonperturbative theory and experimental data.

    • Sergio Boixo
    • , Vadim N. Smelyanskiy
    •  & Hartmut Neven

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluctuations of atomic positions are related to several materials properties. Here the authors measure the photon number statistics via a non-equilibrium optical experiment and provide a quantum description of the interaction between photonic and phononic fields to reveal lattice dynamics fluctuations in quartz.

    • Martina Esposito
    • , Kelvin Titimbo
    •  & Daniele Fausti

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