Table of contents

Emerging properties of domain boundaries define the emerging field of domain boundary engineering. For many applications, the domain boundary acts as template onto which the desired properties, such as (super-) conductivity, polarity, ferroelectricity, magnetism, are imposed. This requires for most applications that the domain structures remain unchanged under appropriate chemical doping. Hassanpour et al (2016 New J. Phys. 18 043015) have now shown, for the first time, that the magnetic and electric domain structures remain indeed robust against charge carrier doping (Ca²⁺ and Zr⁴⁺) of the workbench multi-ferroic ErMnO₃. This opens the way into novel functionalities based on the nanostructure of ErMnO₃.

The investigation of the emergence of spatial patterning in the density profiles of the individual elements of multicomponent systems was perhaps first popularised in a biophysical context by Turing's work on embryogenesis in 1952. How molecular-scale properties transpire to produce patterns at larger scales continues to fascinate today. Now a model DNA–nanotube system, whose assemblies have been reported recently by Glaser et al (2016 New J. Phys.18 055001), promises to reveal insights by allowing the mechanical properties of the underlying macromolecular entities to be controlled independently of their chemical nature.

Bacteria typically swim in straight runs, interruped by sudden turning events. In particular, some species are limited to a reversal in the swimming direction as the only turning maneuver at their disposal. In a recent article, Großmann et al (2016 New J. Phys.18 043009) introduce a theoretical framework to analyze the diffusive properties of active particles following this type of run-and-reverse pattern. Based on a stochastic clock model to mimic the regulatory pathway that triggers reversal events, they show that a run-and-reverse swimmer can optimize its diffusive spreading by tuning the reversal rate according to the level of rotational noise. With their approach, they open up promising new perspectives of how to incorporate the dynamics of intracellular signaling into coarse-grained active particle descriptions.

In active Brownian motion, an internal propulsion mechanism interacts with translational and rotational thermal noise and other internal fluctuations to produce directed motion. We derive the distribution of its extreme fluctuations and identify its universal properties using large deviation theory. The limits of slow and fast internal dynamics give rise to a kink-like and parabolic behavior of the corresponding rate functions, respectively. For dipolar Janus particles in two- and three-dimensions interacting with a field, we predict a novel symmetry akin to, but different from, the one related to entropy production. Measurements of these extreme fluctuations could thus be used to infer properties of the underlying, often hidden, network of states.

Recent experimental evidence points to low-energy magnons as the primary contributors to the spin Seebeck effect. This spectral dependence is puzzling since it is not observed on other thermocurrents in the same material. Here, we argue that the physical origin of this behavior is the magnon–magnon scattering mediated by phonons, in a process which conserves the number of magnons. To assess the importance and features of this kind of scattering, we derive the effective magnon–phonon interaction from a microscopic model, including band energy, a screened electron–electron interaction and the electron–phonon interaction. Unlike higher order magnon-only scattering, we find that the coupling with phonons induce a scattering which is very small for low-energy (or subthermal) magnons but increases sharply above a certain energy—rendering magnons above this energy poor spin-current transporters.

A central assumption in quantum key distribution (QKD) is that Eve has no knowledge about which rounds will be used for parameter estimation or key distillation. Here we show that this assumption is violated for iterative sifting, a sifting procedure that has been employed in some (but not all) of the recently suggested QKD protocols in order to increase their efficiency. We show that iterative sifting leads to two security issues: (1) some rounds are more likely to be key rounds than others, (2) the public communication of past measurement choices changes this bias round by round. We analyze these two previously unnoticed problems, present eavesdropping strategies that exploit them, and find that the two problems are independent. We discuss some sifting protocols in the literature that are immune to these problems. While some of these would be inefficient replacements for iterative sifting, we find that the sifting subroutine of an asymptotically secure protocol suggested by Lo et al (2005 J. Cryptol.18 133–65), which we call LCA sifting, has an efficiency on par with that of iterative sifting. One of our main results is to show that LCA sifting can be adapted to achieve secure sifting in the finite-key regime. More precisely, we combine LCA sifting with a certain parameter estimation protocol, and we prove the finite-key security of this combination. Hence we propose that LCA sifting should replace iterative sifting in future QKD implementations. More generally, we present two formal criteria for a sifting protocol that guarantee its finite-key security. Our criteria may guide the design of future protocols and inspire a more rigorous QKD analysis, which has neglected sifting-related attacks so far.

Highly anisotropic, beam-like neutron emission with peak flux of the order of 10⁹ n/sr was obtained from light nuclei reactions in a pitcher–catcher scenario, by employing MeV ions driven by a sub-petawatt laser. The spatial profile of the neutron beam, fully captured for the first time by employing a CR39 nuclear track detector, shows a FWHM divergence angle of $\sim 70^\circ$, with a peak flux nearly an order of magnitude higher than the isotropic component elsewhere. The observed beamed flux of neutrons is highly favourable for a wide range of applications, and indeed for further transport and moderation to thermal energies. A systematic study employing various combinations of pitcher–catcher materials indicates the dominant reactions being d(p, n+p)¹H and d(d,n)³He. Albeit insufficient cross-section data are available for modelling, the observed anisotropy in the neutrons' spatial and spectral profiles is most likely related to the directionality and high energy of the projectile ions.

We identify a new class of phase transitions when calculating the Hall conductance of two-band Chern insulators in the long-time limit after a global quench of the Hamiltonian. The Hall conductance is expressed as the integral of the Berry curvature in the diagonal ensemble. Even if the Chern number of the unitarily-evolving wave function is conserved, the Hall conductance as a function of the energy gap in the post-quench Hamiltonian displays a continuous but nonanalytic behavior, that is it has a logarithmically divergent derivative as the gap closes. The coefficient of this logarithmic function is the ratio of the change of the Chern number for the ground state of the post-quench Hamiltonian to the energy gap in the initial state. This nonanalytic behavior is universal in two-band Chern insulators.

We study the Kondo chain in the regime of high spin concentration where the low energy physics is dominated by the Ruderman–Kittel–Kasuya–Yosida interaction. As has been recently shown (Tsvelik and Yevtushenko 2015 Phys. Rev. Lett.115 216402), this model has two phases with drastically different transport properties depending on the anisotropy of the exchange interaction. In particular, the helical symmetry of the fermions is spontaneously broken when the anisotropy is of the easy plane type. This leads to a parametrical suppression of the localization effects. In the present paper we substantially extend the previous theory, in particular, by analyzing a competition of forward- and backward- scattering, including into the theory short range electron interactions and calculating spin correlation functions. We discuss applicability of our theory and possible experiments which could support the theoretical findings.

A new method to control lattice-fringe contrast in high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) images by the implementation of a physical phase plate (PP) is proposed. PPs are commonly used in analogy to Zernike PPs in light microscopy to enhance the phase contrast of weak-phase objects with nm-sized features, which often occur in life science applications. Such objects otherwise require strong defocusing, which leads to a degradation of the instrumental resolution and impedes intuitive image interpretation. The successful application of an electrostatic Zach PP in HRTEM is demonstrated by the investigation of single crystalline Si and Ge samples. The influence of the Zach PP on the image formation process is assessed by analyzing the amplitudes of (111) reflections in power spectra which show a cosine-type dependence on the induced phase shift under certain conditions as predicted by theory.

We report an experimental approach to control the position of molecular aggregates on surfaces by vacuum deposition. The control is accomplished by regulating the molecular density on the surface in a confined area. The diffusing molecules are concentrated at the centre of the confined area, producing a stable cluster when reaching the critical density for nucleation. Mechanistic aspects of that control are obtained from kinetic Monte Carlo simulations. The dimensions of the position can further be controlled by varying the beam flux and the substrate temperature.

The nonlinear electron dynamics in a two-dimensional (2D) plasma layer are investigated theoretically and numerically. In contrast to the Langmuir oscillations in a three-dimensional (3D) plasma, a well-known feature of the 2D system is the square root dependence of the frequency on the wavenumber, which leads to unique dispersive properties of 2D plasmons. It is found that for large amplitude plasmonic waves there is a nonlinear frequency upshift similar to that of periodic gravity waves (Stokes waves). The periodic wave train is subject to a modulational instability, leading to sidebands growing exponentially in time. Numerical simulations show the breakup of a 2D wave train into localized wave packets and later into wave turbulence with immersed large amplitude solitary spikes. The results are applied to systems involving massless Dirac fermions in graphene as well as to sheets of electrons on liquid helium.

A periodically driven quantum system, when coupled to a heat bath, relaxes to a non-equilibrium asymptotic state. In the general situation, the retrieval of this asymptotic state presents a rather non-trivial task. It was recently shown that in the limit of an infinitesimal coupling, using the so-called rotating wave approximation (RWA), and under strict conditions imposed on the time-dependent system Hamiltonian, the asymptotic state can attain the Gibbs form. A Floquet–Gibbs state is characterized by a density matrix which is diagonal in the Floquet basis of the system Hamiltonian with the diagonal elements obeying a Gibbs distribution, being parametrized by the corresponding Floquet quasi-energies. Addressing the non-adiabatic driving regime, upon using the Magnus expansion, we employ the concept of a corresponding effective Floquet Hamiltonian. In doing so we go beyond the conventionally used RWA and demonstrate that the idea of Floquet–Gibbs states can be extended to the realistic case of a weak, although finite system-bath coupling, herein termed effective Floquet–Gibbs states.

Tensor network techniques have proved to be powerful tools that can be employed to explore the large scale dynamics of lattice systems. Nonetheless, the redundancy of degrees of freedom in lattice gauge theories (and related models) poses a challenge for standard tensor network algorithms. We accommodate for such systems by introducing an additional structure decorating the tensor network. This allows to explicitly preserve the gauge symmetry of the system under coarse graining and straightforwardly interpret the fixed point tensors. We propose and test (for models with finite Abelian groups) a coarse graining algorithm for lattice gauge theories based on decorated tensor networks. We also point out that decorated tensor networks are applicable to other models as well, where they provide the advantage to give immediate access to certain expectation values and correlation functions.

We report on image processing techniques and experimental procedures to determine the lattice-site positions of single atoms in an optical lattice with high reliability, even for limited acquisition time or optical resolution. Determining the positions of atoms beyond the diffraction limit relies on parametric deconvolution in close analogy to methods employed in super-resolution microscopy. We develop a deconvolution method that makes effective use of the prior knowledge of the optical transfer function, noise properties, and discreteness of the optical lattice. We show that accurate knowledge of the image formation process enables a dramatic improvement on the localization reliability. This allows us to demonstrate super-resolution of the atoms' position in closely packed ensembles where the separation between particles cannot be directly optically resolved. Furthermore, we demonstrate experimental methods to precisely reconstruct the point spread function with sub-pixel resolution from fluorescence images of single atoms, and we give a mathematical foundation thereof. We also discuss discretized image sampling in pixel detectors and provide a quantitative model of noise sources in electron multiplying CCD cameras. The techniques developed here are not only beneficial to neutral atom experiments, but could also be employed to improve the localization precision of trapped ions for ultra precise force sensing.

Squeezed states of spin systems are an important entangled resource for quantum technologies, particularly quantum metrology and sensing. Here we consider the generation of spin squeezed states by interacting the spins with a dissipative ancillary system. We show that spin squeezing can be generated in this model by two different mechanisms: one-axis twisting (OAT) and driven collective relaxation (DCR). We can interpolate between the two mechanisms by simply adjusting the detuning between the dissipative ancillary system and the spin system. Interestingly, we find that for both mechanisms, ancillary system dissipation need not be considered an imperfection in our model, but plays a positive role in spin squeezing. To assess the feasibility of spin squeezing we consider two different implementations with superconducting circuits. We conclude that it is experimentally feasible to generate a squeezed state of hundreds of spins either by OAT or by DCR.

The order parameter of the smectic liquid crystal phase is the same as that of a superfluid or superconductor, namely a complex scalar field. We show that the essential difference in boundary conditions between these systems leads to a markedly different topological structure of the defects. Screw and edge defects can be distinguished topologically. This implies an invariant on an edge dislocation loop so that smectic defects can be topologically linked not unlike defects in ordered systems with non-Abelian fundamental groups.

The Born rule, a foundational axiom used to deduce probabilities of events from wavefunctions, is indispensable in the everyday practice of quantum physics. It is also key in the quest to reconcile the ostensibly inconsistent laws of the quantum and classical realms, as it confers physical significance to reduced density matrices, the essential tools of decoherence theory. Following Bohr's Copenhagen interpretation, textbooks postulate the Born rule outright. However, recent attempts to derive it from other quantum principles have been successful, holding promise for simplifying and clarifying the quantum foundational bedrock. A major family of derivations is based on envariance, a recently discovered symmetry of entangled quantum states. Here, we identify and experimentally test three premises central to these envariance-based derivations, thus demonstrating, in the microworld, the symmetries from which the Born rule is derived. Further, we demonstrate envariance in a purely local quantum system, showing its independence from relativistic causality.

The recent experimental realisation of Bose–Fermi superfluid mixtures of dilute ultracold atomic gases has opened new perspectives in the study of quantum many-body systems. Depending on the values of the scattering lengths and the amount of bosons and fermions, a uniform Bose–Fermi mixture is predicted to exhibit a fully mixed phase, a fully separated phase or, in addition, a purely fermionic phase coexisting with a mixed phase. The occurrence of this intermediate configuration has interesting consequences when the system is nonuniform. In this work we theoretically investigate the case of solitonic solutions of coupled Bogoliubov–de Gennes and Gross–Pitaevskii equations for the fermionic and bosonic components, respectively. We show that, in the partially separated phase, a dark soliton in Fermi superfluid is accompanied by a broad bosonic component in the soliton, forming a dark–bright soliton which keeps full spatial coherence.

We have proposed and investigated for the first time an efficient way of photon transport through a subwavelength hole by a moving atom. The transfer mechanism is based on the reduction of the wave packet of a single photon due to its absorption by an atom and, correspondingly, its localization in a volume is smaller than both the radiation wavelength and the nanohole size. The scheme realizes the transformation of a single-photon single-mode wave packet of the laser light into a single-photon multimode wave packet in free space.

In this work we compare two fundamentally different approaches to the electronic transport in deformed graphene: (a) the condensed matter approach in which current flow paths are obtained by applying the non-equilibrium Green's function (NEGF) method to the tight-binding model with local strain, (b) the general relativistic approach in which classical trajectories of relativistic point particles moving in a curved surface with a pseudo-magnetic field are calculated. The connection between the two is established in the long-wave limit via an effective Dirac Hamiltonian in curved space. Geometrical optics approximation, applied to focused current beams, allows us to directly compare the wave and the particle pictures. We obtain very good numerical agreement between the quantum and the classical approaches for a fairly wide set of parameters, improving with the increasing size of the system. The presented method offers an enormous reduction of complexity from irregular tight-binding Hamiltonians defined on large lattices to geometric language for curved continuous surfaces. It facilitates a comfortable and efficient tool for predicting electronic transport properties in graphene nanostructures with complicated geometries. Combination of the curvature and the pseudo-magnetic field paves the way to new interesting transport phenomena such as bending or focusing (lensing) of currents depending on the shape of the deformation. It can be applied in designing ultrasensitive sensors or in nanoelectronics.

We measure strong radio-frequency (RF) electric fields using rubidium Rydberg atoms prepared in a room-temperature vapor cell as field sensors. Electromagnetically induced transparency is employed as an optical readout. We RF-modulate the $60{{\rm{S}}}_{1/2}$ and $58{{\rm{D}}}_{5/2}$ Rydberg states with 50 and 100 MHz fields, respectively. For weak to moderate RF fields, the Rydberg levels become Stark-shifted, and sidebands appear at even multiples of the driving frequency. In high fields, the adjacent hydrogenic manifold begins to intersect the shifted levels, providing rich spectroscopic structure suitable for precision field measurements. A quantitative description of strong-field level modulation and mixing of S and D states with hydrogenic states is provided by Floquet theory. Additionally, we estimate the shielding of DC electric fields in the interior of the glass vapor cell.

Ventricular fibrillation is an extremely dangerous cardiac arrhythmia that is linked to rotating waves of electric activity and chaotically moving vortex lines. These filaments can pin to insulating, cylindrical heterogeneities which swiftly become the new rotation backbone of the local wave field. For thin cylinders, the stabilized rotation is sufficiently fast to repel the free segments of the turbulent filament tangle and annihilate them at the system boundaries. The resulting global wave pattern is periodic and highly ordered. Our cardiac simulations show that also thicker cylinders can establish analogous forms of tachycardia. This process occurs through the spontaneous formation of pinned multi-armed vortices. The observed number of wave arms N depends on the cylinder radius and is associated to stability windows that for N = 2, 3 partially overlap. For N = 1, 2, we find a small gap in which the turbulence is removed but the pinned rotor shows complex temporal dynamics. The relevance of our findings to human cardiology are discussed in the context of vortex pinning to more complex-shaped anatomical features and remodeled myocardium.

High quality Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀ nanoflakes are obtained by the scotch tape-based micro-mechanical exfoliation method. The metamagnetic transition temperature ${{T}_{m}}^{flake}$ is found to decrease in line with the decrease of thickness, while the ferromagnetic (FM) phase, the ordinary, and anomalous Hall effects (OHE and AHE) are independent on the thickness of the flake. Analysis of the data demonstrates that the AHE reflects the FM nature of Sr₄Ru₃O₁₀, and the decrease of thickness favors the Ru moments aligned in the ab-plane, which induces a decrease of the metamagnetic transition temperature compared with the bulk.

Mirror-symmetric (001) surfaces of a topological crystalline insulator SnTe host an even number of Dirac cone structures of surface states. A Zeeman field generically gaps the surface states, leading to a 2D topological insulator. By symmetry analysis and calculation of spin-Chern numbers, we show that with varying the direction of the Zeeman field, the system displays a rich phase diagram, consisting of a quantum anomalous Hall (QAH) phase with Chern number C = 2, a QAH phase with C = 1, a quantum pseudospin Hall phase, and an unusual insulator phase. In the QAH phase with C = 1 and the insulator phase, the two valleys X and Y are in different topological states. These valley-dependent topological phases provide a new pathway to potential applications of valleytronics.

The structural, magnetic and magnetotransport properties of La${}_{0.7}$Ba${}_{0.3}$MnO₃ layers interfaced with SrRuO₃ layers were studied. High quality trilayers with coherent interfaces were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition. The thickness of the embedded La${}_{0.7}$Ba${}_{0.3}$MnO₃ layer was varied between one and five unit cells, whereas the embedding SrRuO₃ layers were kept at a constant thickness of three unit cells. In this embedded geometry La${}_{0.7}$Ba${}_{0.3}$MnO₃ layers are ferromagnetic, even if only one unit cell thick. Magnetization and anomalous Hall effect curves show an antiferromagnetic coupling of the layers that leads to an intricate magnetic field dependence. When this is disentangled, it can be shown that the magnetic and transport properties are mainly dominated by the corresponding properties of the constituent materials.

In a thermal ensemble of atoms driven by coherent fields, how does evolution of quantum superposition compete with classical dynamics of optical pumping and atomic diffusion? Is it optical pumping that first prepares a thermal ensemble, with coherent superposition developing subsequently or is it the other way round: coherently superposed atoms driven to steady state via optical pumping? Using a stroboscopic probing technique, here we experimentally explore these questions. A 100 ns pulse is used to probe an experimentally simulated, closed three-level, Λ-like configuration in rubidium atoms, driven by strong coherent (control) and incoherent fields. Temporal evolution of probe transmission shows an initial overshoot with turn-on of control, resulting in a scenario akin to lasing without inversion. The corresponding rise time is dictated by coherent dynamics, with a distinct experimental signature of half-cycle Rabi flop in a thermal ensemble of atoms. Our results indicate that, in fact, optical pumping drives the atoms to a steady state in a significantly longer time-scale that sustains superposed dark states. Eventual control turn-off leads to a sudden fall in transmission with an ubiquitous signature for identifying closed and open systems. Numerical simulations and toy-model predictions confirm our claims. These studies reveal new insights into a rich and complex dynamics associated with atoms in thermal ensemble, which are otherwise absent in state-prepared, cold atomic ensembles.

A new physical model of the hosing instability that includes relativistic laser pulses and moderate densities is presented and derives the density dependence of the hosing equation. This is tested against two-dimensional particle-in-cell simulations. These simulations further examine the feasibility of using multiple pulses to mitigate the hosing instability in a Nd:glass-type parameter space. An examination of the effects of planar versus cylindrical exponential density gradients on the hosing instability is also presented. The results show that strongly relativistic pulses and more planar geometries are capable of mitigating the hosing instability which is in line with the predictions of the physical model.

A fault-tolerant quantum repeater or quantum computer using solid-state spin-based quantum bits will likely require a physical implementation with many spins arranged in a grid. Self-assembled quantum dots (QDs) have been established as attractive candidates for building spin-based quantum information processing devices, but such QDs are randomly positioned, which makes them unsuitable for constructing large-scale processors. Recent efforts have shown that QDs embedded in nanowires can be deterministically positioned in regular arrays, can store single charges, and have excellent optical properties, but so far there have been no demonstrations of spin qubit operations using nanowire QDs. Here we demonstrate optical pumping of individual spins trapped in site-controlled nanowire QDs, resulting in high-fidelity spin-qubit initialization. This represents the next step towards establishing spins in nanowire QDs as quantum memories suitable for use in a large-scale, fault-tolerant quantum computer or repeater based on all-optical control of the spin qubits.

Human movements in the real world and in cyberspace affect not only dynamical processes such as epidemic spreading and information diffusion but also social and economical activities such as urban planning and personalized recommendation in online shopping. Despite recent efforts in characterizing and modeling human behaviors in both the real and cyber worlds, the fundamental dynamics underlying human mobility have not been well understood. We develop a minimal, memory-based random walk model in limited space for reproducing, with a single parameter, the key statistical behaviors characterizing human movements in both cases. The model is validated using relatively big data from mobile phone and online commerce, suggesting memory-based random walk dynamics as the unified underpinning for human mobility, regardless of whether it occurs in the real world or in cyberspace.

We consider onset of transport (de-pinning) in one-dimensional bosonic chains with a repulsive boson–boson interaction that decays exponentially on large length-scales. Our study is relevant for (i) de-pinning of Cooper-pairs in Josephson junction arrays; (ii) de-pinning of magnetic flux quanta in quantum-phase-slip ladders, i.e. arrays of superconducting wires in a ladder-configuration that allow for the coherent tunneling of flux quanta. In the low-frequency, long wave-length regime these chains can be mapped onto an effective model of a one-dimensional elastic field in a disordered potential. The standard de-pinning theories address infinitely long systems in two limiting cases: (a) of uncorrelated disorder (zero correlation length); (b) of long range power-law correlated disorder (infinite correlation length). In this paper we study numerically chains of finite length in the intermediate case of long but finite disorder correlation length. This regime is of relevance for, e.g., the experimental systems mentioned above. We study the interplay of three length scales: the system length, the interaction range, the correlation length of disorder. In particular, we observe the crossover between the solitonic onset of transport in arrays shorter than the disorder correlation length to onset of transport by de-pinning for longer arrays.

Domain walls (DWs) can be moved very efficiently with nanosecond long current pulses in perpendicularly magnetized Co/Ni/Co nanowires formed with platinum under- and over-layers due to a chiral spin torque mechanism. In these structures the DWs exhibit a chiral Néel structure that has been proposed is set by a Dyzaloshinskii–Moriya exchange interaction (DMI) arising from the Pt/Co and Co/Pt interfaces. The strength of this interaction can be measured from the longitudinal field dependence of the current induced DW velocity. We show, thereby, that the magnitude and sign of the DMI is strongly dependent and monotonically changes as small changes in the thicknesses of the Co layers are made. However, due to the chiral nature of the DMI we show that the magnitude and sign of the DMI is determined by the difference between the respective DMI at the upper and lower interfaces, which compensate each other. Thus, we find that the DMI increases as the lower Co thickness is increased but decreases as the upper Co thickness is increased, changing sign in both cases.

The formation of 360° magnetic domain walls (360DWs) in Co and Ni₈₀Fe₂₀ thin film wires was demonstrated experimentally for different wire widths, by successively injecting two 180° domain walls (180DWs) into the wire. For narrow wires (≤50 nm wide for Co), edge roughness prevented the combination of the 180DWs into a 360DW, and for wide wires (200 nm for Co) the 360DW was unstable and annihilated spontaneously, but over an intermediate range of wire widths, reproducible 360DW formation occurred. The annihilation and dissociation of 360DWs was demonstrated by applying a magnetic field parallel to the wire, showing that annihilation fields were several times higher than dissociation fields in agreement with micromagnetic modeling. The annihilation of a 360DW by current pulsing was demonstrated.

While it is often thought that the geometric phase is less sensitive to fluctuations in the control fields, a very general feature of adiabatic Hamiltonians is the unavoidable dynamic phase that accompanies the geometric phase. The effect of control field noise during adiabatic geometric quantum gate operations has not been probed experimentally, especially in the canonical spin qubit system that is of interest for quantum information. We present measurement of the Berry phase and carry out adiabatic geometric phase gate in a single solid-state spin qubit associated with the nitrogen-vacancy center in diamond. We manipulate the spin qubit geometrically by careful application of microwave radiation that creates an effective rotating magnetic field, and observe the resulting Berry phase signal via spin echo interferometry. Our results show that control field noise at frequencies higher than the spin echo clock frequency causes decay of the quantum phase, and degrades the fidelity of the geometric phase gate to the classical threshold after a few (∼10) operations. This occurs inspite of the geometric nature of the state preparation, due to unavoidable dynamic contributions. We have carried out systematic analysis and numerical simulations to study the effects of the control field noise and imperfect driving waveforms on the quantum phase gate.

Mechanical oscillators which respond to radiation pressure are a promising means of transferring quantum information between light and matter. Optical–mechanical state swaps are a key operation in this setting. Existing proposals for optomechanical state swap interfaces are only effective in the resolved sideband limit. Here, we show that it is possible to fully and deterministically exchange mechanical and optical states outside of this limit, in the common case that the cavity linewidth is larger than the mechanical resonance frequency. This high-bandwidth interface opens up a significantly larger region of optomechanical parameter space, allowing generation of non-classical motional states of high-quality, low-frequency mechanical oscillators.

We observe the quantum Zeno effect—where the act of measurement slows the rate of quantum state transitions—in a superconducting qubit using linear circuit quantum electrodynamics readout and a near-quantum-limited following amplifier. Under simultaneous strong measurement and qubit drive, the qubit undergoes a series of quantum jumps between states. These jumps are visible in the experimental measurement record and are analyzed using maximum likelihood estimation to determine qubit transition rates. The observed rates agree with both analytical predictions and numerical simulations. The analysis methods are suitable for processing general noisy random telegraph signals.

Current-induced heating of short double-stranded DNA chains is studied within a two-probe transport setup by using the Langevin approach. The electrons are modeled by a tight-binding Hamiltonian. The DNA atomic motion is described by the Peyrard–Bishop–Dauxois atomic potential, coupled with electrons through the Holstein interaction. The solvent environment is accounted for as a classical heat bath. Voltage biases of $0.1\sim 0.5\;{\rm{V}}$ can effectively break the base pairs and lead to the melting transition, which can be detected from the resulting significant reduction of the conductance. When the bias increases, the opening of base pairs near the leads with higher chemical potential is suppressed and bubble (localized separation of the double strand) formation becomes asymmetric. Our results suggest that the voltage bias can excite the base pairs, hence increases the chemical activity of DNA.

We study a quantum harmonic oscillator linearly coupled through the position operator $\hat{q}$ to a first bath and through the momentum operator $\hat{p}$ to a second bath yielding an Ohmic–Drude dissipation. We analyse the oscillator's fluctuations as a function of the ratio between the strength of the two couplings, focusing in particular on the situation in which the two dissipative interactions are comparable. Analytic formulas are derived in the relevant regimes corresponding to the low temperature limit and when the Drude high frequency cutoff is much larger than all other frequencies. At low temperature, each bath operates to suppress the oscillator's ground state quantum fluctuations ${\langle {\rm{\Delta }}{\hat{q}}^{2}\rangle }_{0}$ or ${\langle {\rm{\Delta }}{\hat{p}}^{2}\rangle }_{0}$ appearing in the corresponding interaction. When one of the two dissipative interactions dominates over the other, the fluctuations for the coupling operator are squeezed. When the two interactions are comparable, the two baths enter in competition as the two conjugate operators do not commute yielding quantum frustration. In this regime, remarkably, the fluctuations of both two quadratures can be enhanced by increasing the dissipative coupling.

The dynamics of quantum systems strongly depends on the local structure of the Hamiltonian. For short-range interacting systems, the well-known Lieb–Robinson bound defines the effective light cone with an exponentially small error with respect to the spatial distance, whereas we can obtain only polynomially small errors for distance in long-range interacting systems. In this paper, we derive a qualitatively new bound for quantum dynamics by considering how many spins can correlate with each other after time evolution. Our bound characterizes the number of spins which support the many-body entanglement with exponentially small errors and is valid for a large class of Hamiltonians including long-range interacting systems. To demonstrate the advantage of our approach in quantum many-body systems, we apply our bound to prove several fundamental properties which have not been derived from the Lieb–Robinson bound.

We analyze in detail an open cavity array using mean-field description, where each cavity field is coupled to a number of three-level atoms. Such a system is highly tunable and can be described by a Jaynes–Cummings like Hamiltonian with additional nonlinear terms. In the single cavity case we provide simple analytic solutions and show, that the system features a bistable region. The extra nonlinear term gives rise to a rich dynamical behavior including occurrence of limit cycles through Hopf bifurcations. In the limit of large nonlinearity, the system exhibits an Ising like phase transition as the coupling between light and matter is varied. We then discuss how these results extend to the two-dimensional case.

Society relies and depends increasingly on information exchange and communication. In the quantum world, security and privacy is a built-in feature for information processing. The essential ingredient for exploiting these quantum advantages is the resource of entanglement, which can be shared between two or more parties. The distribution of entanglement over large distances constitutes a key challenge for current research and development. Due to losses of the transmitted quantum particles, which typically scale exponentially with the distance, intermediate quantum repeater stations are needed. Here we show how to generalise the quantum repeater concept to the multipartite case, by describing large-scale quantum networks, i.e. network nodes and their long-distance links, consistently in the language of graphs and graph states. This unifying approach comprises both the distribution of multipartite entanglement across the network, and the protection against errors via encoding. The correspondence to graph states also provides a tool for optimising the architecture of quantum networks.

Motivated by the ongoing debate about nanophotonic control of Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET), notably by the local density of optical states (LDOS), we study FRET and spontaneous emission in arbitrary nanophotonic media with weak dispersion and weak absorption in the frequency overlap range of donor and acceptor. This system allows us to obtain the following two new insights. Firstly, we derive that the FRET rate only depends on the static part of the Green function. Hence, the FRET rate is independent of frequency, in contrast to spontaneous-emission rates and LDOS that are strongly frequency dependent in nanophotonic media. Therefore, the position-dependent FRET rate and the LDOS at the donor transition frequency are completely uncorrelated for any nondispersive medium. Secondly, we derive an exact expression for the FRET rate as a frequency integral of the imaginary part of the Green function. This leads to very accurate approximation for the FRET rate that features the LDOS that is integrated over a huge bandwidth ranging from zero frequency to far into the UV. We illustrate these general results for the analytic model system of a pair of ideal dipole emitters—donor and acceptor—in the vicinity of an ideal mirror. We find that the FRET rate is independent of the LDOS at the donor emission frequency. Moreover, we observe that the FRET rate hardly depends on the frequency-integrated LDOS. Nevertheless, the FRET is controlled between inhibition and 4×enhancement at distances close to the mirror, typically a few nm. Finally, we discuss the consequences of our results to applications of Förster resonance energy transfer, for instance in quantum information processing.

We report on the experimental observation of spatially oscillating solitons in two-dimensional nonlinear photonic lattices, realized by optical induction using a continuous nondiffracting Weber beam. Thereby, we introduce and demonstrate a new type of transverse soliton dynamics originating from the unique parabolic geometry of the photonic lattice. First, we numerically calculate the fundamental soliton solution for this lattice and experimentally demonstrate its existence. Afterwards, we experimentally launch the soliton with an additional transverse momentum and observe harmonic spatial oscillation during propagation.

Searching for the signature of the violation of chiral charge conservation in solids has inspired a growing passion for the magneto-transport in topological semimetals. One of the open questions is how the conductivity depends on magnetic fields in a semimetal phase when the Fermi energy crosses the Weyl nodes. Here, we study both the longitudinal and transverse magnetoconductivity of a topological Weyl semimetal near the Weyl nodes with the help of a two-node model that includes all the topological semimetal properties. In the semimetal phase, the Fermi energy crosses only the 0th Landau bands in magnetic fields. For a finite potential range of impurities, it is found that both the longitudinal and transverse magnetoconductivity are positive and linear at the Weyl nodes, leading to an anisotropic and negative magnetoresistivity. The longitudinal magnetoconductivity depends on the potential range of impurities. The longitudinal conductivity remains finite at zero field, even though the density of states vanishes at the Weyl nodes. This work establishes a relation between the linear magnetoconductivity and the intrinsic topological Weyl semimetal phase.

Quantum spin models with spatially dependent interactions, known as compass models, play an important role in the study of frustrated quantum magnetism. One example is the Kitaev model on the honeycomb lattice with spin-liquid (SL) ground states and anyonic excitations. Another example is the geometrically frustrated quantum 120° model on the same lattice whose ground state has not been unambiguously established. To generalize the Kitaev model beyond the exactly solvable limit and connect it with other compass models, we propose a new model, dubbed 'the tripod model', which contains a continuum of compass-type models. It smoothly interpolates the Ising model, the Kitaev model, and the quantum 120° model by tuning a single parameter ${\theta }^{\prime }$, the angle between the three legs of a tripod in the spin space. Hence it not only unifies three paradigmatic spin models, but also enables the study of their quantum phase transitions. We obtain the phase diagram of the tripod model numerically by tensor networks in the thermodynamic limit. We show that the ground state of the quantum 120° model has long-range dimer order. Moreover, we find an extended spin-disordered (SL) phase between the dimer phase and an antiferromagnetic phase. The unification and solution of a continuum of frustrated spin models as outline here may be useful to exploring new domains of other quantum spin or orbital models.

The long term scaling prospects for solid-state quantum computing architectures relies heavily on the ability to simply and reliably measure and control the coherent electron interaction strength, known as the tunnel coupling, t_c. Here, we describe a method to extract the t_c between two quantum dots (QDs) utilising their different tunnel rates to a reservoir. We demonstrate the technique on a few donor triple QD tunnel coupled to a nearby single-electron transistor (SET) in silicon. The device was patterned using scanning tunneling microscopy-hydrogen lithography allowing for a direct measurement of the tunnel coupling for a given inter-dot distance. We extract ${t}_{{\rm{c}}}=5.5\pm 1.8\;{\rm{GHz}}$ and ${t}_{{\rm{c}}}=2.2\pm 1.3\;{\rm{GHz}}$ between each of the nearest-neighbour QDs which are separated by 14.5 nm and 14.0 nm, respectively. The technique allows for an accurate measurement of t_c for nanoscale devices even when it is smaller than the electron temperature and is an ideal characterisation tool for multi-dot systems with a charge sensor.

The optical gradient force provides optomechanical interactions, for particle trapping and manipulation, as well as for near-field optical imaging in scanning probe microscopy. Based on recent spectroscopic experiments, its extension and use for a novel form of chemical scanning probe nano-imaging was proposed. Here, we provide the theoretical basis in terms of spectral behavior, resonant enhancement, and distance dependence of the optical gradient force from numerical simulations in a coupled nanoparticle model geometry. We predict an asymmetric line shape of the optical gradient force for molecular electronic or vibrational resonances, corresponding to the real part of the dielectric function of the sample materials. Yet the line shape can become symmetric and absorptive for collective polaritonic excitations. The corresponding magnitudes of the force range from fN to pN, respectively. The distance dependence scales considerably less steeply than simple point dipole model predictions due to multipole effects. The combination of these characteristics of the optical gradient force offers the chance to experimentally distinguish it from competing processes such as thermal expansion induced forces. In addition we provide a perspective for further resonant enhancement and control of optical forces.

The self-assembly of molecular and macromolecular building blocks into organized patterns is a complex process found in diverse systems over a wide range of size and time scales. The formation of star- or aster-like configurations, for example, is a common characteristic in solutions of polymers or other molecules containing multi-scaled, hierarchical assembly processes. This is a recurring phenomenon in numerous pattern-forming systems ranging from cellular constructs to solutions of ferromagnetic colloids or synthetic plastics. To date, however, it has not been possible to systematically parameterize structural properties of the constituent components in order to study their influence on assembled states. Here, we circumvent this limitation by using DNA nanotubes with programmable mechanical properties as our basic building blocks. A small set of DNA oligonucleotides can be chosen to hybridize into micron-length DNA nanotubes with a well-defined circumference and stiffness. The self-assembly of these nanotubes to hierarchically ordered structures is driven by depletion forces caused by the presence of polyethylene glycol. This trait allowed us to investigate self-assembly effects while maintaining a complete decoupling of density, self-association or bundling strength, and stiffness of the nanotubes. Our findings show diverse ranges of emerging structures including heterogeneous networks, aster-like structures, and densely bundled needle-like structures, which compare to configurations found in many other systems. These show a strong dependence not only on concentration and bundling strength, but also on the underlying mechanical properties of the nanotubes. Similar network architectures to those caused by depletion forces in the low-density regime are obtained when an alternative hybridization-based bundling mechanism is employed to induce self-assembly in an isotropic network of pre-formed DNA nanotubes. This emphasizes the universal effect inevitable attractive forces in crowded environments have on systems of self-assembling soft matter, which should be considered for macromolecular structures applied in crowded systems such as cells.

The strand displacement competition assay is based on the dynamic equilibrium of the competitive hybridization of two oligonucleotides (A and B) to a third oligonucleotide (S). In the presence of an analyte that binds to a specific affinity-moiety conjugated to strand B, the equilibrium shifts, which can be detected by a shift in the fluorescence resonance energy transfer signal between dyes attached to the DNA strands. In the present study we have integrated an ATP aptamer in the strand B and demonstrated the optical detection of ATP. Furthermore we explore a new readout method using a split G-quadruplex DNAzyme for colorimetric readout of the detection of streptavidin by the naked eye. Finally, we integrate the whole G-quadruplex DNAzyme system in a single DNA strand and show that it is applicable to colorimetric detection.

This paper provides the first detailed temporal characterization of a multi-wavelength-Brillouin–erbium fiber laser (MWBEFL) by measuring the optical intensity of the individual frequency channels with high temporal resolution. It is found that the power in each channel is highly unstable due to the excitation of several cavity modes for typical conditions of operation. Also provided is the real-time measurements of the MWBEFL output power for two configurations that were previously reported to emit phase-locked picosecond pulse trains, concluded from their autocorrelation measurements. Real-time measurements reveal a high degree of instability without the formation of a stable pulse train. Finally, we model the MWBEFL using coupled wave equations describing the evolution of the Brillouin pump, Stokes and acoustic waves in the presence of stimulated Brillouin scattering, and the optical Kerr effect. A good qualitative consistency between the simulation and experimental results is evident, in which the interference signal at the output shows strong instability as well as the chaotic behavior due to the dynamics of participating pump and Stokes waves.

The goal of two-party cryptography is to enable two parties, Alice and Bob, to solve common tasks without the need for mutual trust. Examples of such tasks are private access to a database, and secure identification. Quantum communication enables security for all of these problems in the noisy-storage model by sending more signals than the adversary can store in a certain time frame. Here, we initiate the study of device-independent (DI) protocols for two-party cryptography in the noisy-storage model. Specifically, we present a relatively easy to implement protocol for a cryptographic building block known as weak string erasure and prove its security even if the devices used in the protocol are prepared by the dishonest party. DI two-party cryptography is made challenging by the fact that Alice and Bob do not trust each other, which requires new techniques to establish security. We fully analyse the case of memoryless devices (for which sequential attacks are optimal) and the case of sequential attacks for arbitrary devices. The key ingredient of the proof, which might be of independent interest, is an explicit (and tight) relation between the violation of the Clauser–Horne–Shimony–Holt inequality observed by Alice and Bob and uncertainty generated by Alice against Bob who is forced to measure his system before finding out Alice's setting (guessing with postmeasurement information). In particular, we show that security is possible for arbitrarily small violation.

Molecular self-assembly has become a well-established technique to design complex nanostructures and hierarchical mesoscale assemblies. The typical approach is to design binding complementarity into nucleotide or amino acid sequences to achieve the desired final geometry. However, with an increasing interest in dynamic nanodevices, the need to design structures with motion has necessitated the development of multi-component structures. While this has been achieved through hierarchical assembly of similar structural units, here we focus on the assembly of topologically complex structures, specifically with concentric components, where post-folding assembly is not feasible. We exploit the ability to direct folding pathways to program the sequence of assembly and present a novel approach of designing the strand topology of intermediate folding states to program the topology of the final structure, in this case a DNA origami slider structure that functions much like a piston-cylinder assembly in an engine. The ability to program the sequence and control orientation and topology of multi-component DNA origami nanostructures provides a foundation for a new class of structures with internal and external moving parts and complex scaffold topology. Furthermore, this work provides critical insight to guide the design of intermediate states along a DNA origami folding pathway and to further understand the details of DNA origami self-assembly to more broadly control folding states and landscapes.

The demonstration and use of Bell-nonlocality, a concept that is fundamentally striking and is at the core of applications in device independent quantum information processing, relies heavily on the assumption of measurement independence, also called the assumption of free choice. The latter cannot be verified or guaranteed. In this paper, we consider a relaxation of the measurement independence assumption. We briefly review the results of Pütz et al (2014 Phys. Rev. Lett.113 190402), which show that with our relaxation, the set of so-called measurement dependent local (MDL) correlations is a polytope, i.e. it can be fully described using a finite set of linear inequalities. Here we analyze this polytope, first in the simplest case of two parties with binary inputs and outputs, for which we give a full characterization. We show that partially entangled states are preferable to the maximally entangled state when dealing with measurement dependence in this scenario. We further present a method which transforms any Bell-inequality into an MDL inequality and give valid inequalities for the case of arbitrary number of parties as well as one for arbitrary number of inputs. We introduce the assumption of independent sources in the measurement dependence scenario and give a full analysis for the bipartite scenario with binary inputs and outputs. Finally, we establish a link between measurement dependence and another strong hindrance in certifying nonlocal correlations: nondetection events.

We study the dynamics of quantum bosonic waves in a one-dimensional tilted optical lattice. An effective spatially localized nonlinear two-body potential barrier is set at the center of the lattice. This version of the Bose–Hubbard model can be realized in atomic Bose–Einstein condensates, with the help of localized optical Feshbach resonance, controlled by a focused laser beam, and in quantum optics, using an arrayed waveguide with selectively doped guiding cores. Our numerical analysis demonstrates that the central barrier induces anomalous quantum reflection of incident wave packets, which acts solely on bosonic components with multiple onsite occupancies, while single-occupancy components pass the barrier, allowing one to distill them in the interaction zone. As a consequence, in this region one finds a hard-core-like state, in which the multiple occupancy is forbidden. Our results demonstrate that this regime can be attained dynamically, using relatively weak interactions, irrespective of their sign. Physical parameters necessary for the experimental implementation of the setting in ultracold atomic gases are estimated.

We investigate the role of interatomic interactions when a Bose gas, in a double-well potential with a finite tunneling probability (a 'Bose–Josephson junction'), is exposed to external noise. We examine the rate of decoherence of a system initially in its ground state with equal probability amplitudes in both sites. The noise may induce two kinds of effects: firstly, random shifts in the relative phase or number difference between the two wells and secondly, loss of atoms from the trap. The effects of induced phase fluctuations are mitigated by atom–atom interactions and tunneling, such that the dephasing rate may be suppressed by half its single-atom value. Random fluctuations may also be induced in the population difference between the wells, in which case atom–atom interactions considerably enhance the decoherence rate. A similar scenario is predicted for the case of atom loss, even if the loss rates from the two sites are equal. We find that if the initial state is number-squeezed due to interactions, then the loss process induces population fluctuations that reduce the coherence across the junction. We examine the parameters relevant for these effects in a typical atom chip device, using a simple model of the trapping potential, experimental data, and the theory of magnetic field fluctuations near metallic conductors. These results provide a framework for mapping the dynamical range of barriers engineered for specific applications and set the stage for more complex atom circuits ('atomtronics').

An understanding of the pinning of magnetic skyrmions to defects is crucial for the development of future spintronic applications. While pinning is desirable for a precise positioning of magnetic skyrmions it is detrimental when they are to be moved through a material. We use scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) to study the interaction between atomic scale defects and magnetic skyrmions that are only a few nanometers in diameter. The studied pinning centers range from single atom inlayer defects and adatoms to clusters adsorbed on the surface of our model system. We find very different pinning strengths and identify preferred positions of the skyrmion. The interaction between a cluster and a skyrmion can be sufficiently strong for the skyrmion to follow when the cluster is moved across the surface by lateral manipulation with the STM tip.

The BB84 quantum key distribution protocol is semi device independent in the sense that it can be shown to be secure if just one of the users' devices is restricted to a qubit Hilbert space. Here, we derive an analytic lower bound on the asymptotic secret key rate for the entanglement-based version of BB84 assuming only that one of the users performs unknown qubit POVMs. The result holds against the class of collective attacks and reduces to the well known Shor–Preskill key rate for correlations corresponding to the ideal BB84 correlations mixed with any amount of random noise.

We consider a mixture of one-dimensional strongly interacting Fermi gases with up to six components, subjected to a longitudinal harmonic confinement. In the limit of infinitely strong repulsions we provide an exact solution which generalizes the one for the two-component mixture. We show that an imbalanced mixture under harmonic confinement displays partial spatial separation among the components, with a structure which depends on the relative population of the various components. Furthermore, we provide a symmetry characterization of the ground and excited states of the mixture introducing and evaluating a suitable operator, namely the conjugacy class sum. We show that, even under external confinement, the gas has a definite symmetry which corresponds to the most symmetric one compatible with the imbalance among the components. This generalizes the predictions of the Lieb–Mattis theorem for a Fermionic mixture with more than two components.

The DNA bricks method exploits self-assembly of short DNA fragments to produce custom three-dimensional objects with subnanometer precision. In contrast to DNA origami, the DNA brick method permits a variety of different structures to be realized using the same library of DNA strands. As a consequence of their design, however, assembled DNA brick structures have fewer interhelical connections in comparison to equivalent DNA origami structures. Although the overall shape of the DNA brick objects has been characterized and found to conform to the features of the target designs, the microscopic properties of DNA brick objects remain yet to be determined. Here, we use the all-atom molecular dynamics method to directly compare the structure, mechanical properties and ionic conductivity of DNA brick and DNA origami structures different only by internal connectivity of their consistituent DNA strands. In comparison to equivalent DNA origami structures, the DNA brick structures are found to be less rigid and less dense and have a larger cross-section area normal to the DNA helix direction. At the microscopic level, the junction in the DNA brick structures are found to be right-handed, similar to the structure of individual Holliday junctions (HJ) in solution, which contrasts with the left-handed structure of HJ in DNA origami. Subject to external electric field, a DNA brick plate is more leaky to ions than an equivalent DNA origami plate because of its lower density and larger cross-section area. Overall, our results indicate that the structures produced by the DNA brick method are fairly similar in their overall appearance to those created by the DNA origami method but are more compliant when subject to external forces, which likely is a consequence of their single crossover design.

The ground-state properties of one-dimensional electron-spin-polarized hydrogen ¹H, deuterium ²H, and tritium ³H are obtained by means of quantum Monte Carlo methods. The equations of state of the three isotopes are calculated for a wide range of linear densities. The pair correlation function and the static structure factor are obtained and interpreted within the framework of the Luttinger liquid theory. We report the density dependence of the Luttinger parameter and use it to identify different physical regimes: Bogoliubov Bose gas, super-Tonks–Girardeau gas, and quasi-crystal regimes for bosons; repulsive, attractive Fermi gas, and quasi-crystal regimes for fermions. We find that the tritium isotope is the one with the richest behavior. Our results show unambiguously the relevant role of the isotope mass in the properties of this quantum system.

The correlation function is an important quantity in the physics of ultracold quantum gases because it provides information about the quantum many-body wave function beyond the simple density profile. In this paper we first study the M-body local correlation functions, g_M, of the one-dimensional (1D) strongly repulsive Bose gas within the Lieb–Liniger model using the analytical method proposed by Gangardt and Shlyapnikov (2003 Phys. Rev. Lett.90 010401; 2003 New J. Phys.5 79). In the strong repulsion regime the 1D Bose gas at low temperatures is equivalent to a gas of ideal particles obeying the non-mutual generalized exclusion statistics with a statistical parameter $\alpha =1-2/\gamma$, i.e. the quasimomenta of N strongly interacting bosons map to the momenta of N free fermions via ${k}_{i}\approx \alpha {k}_{i}^{F}$ with $i=1,\ldots ,N$. Here γ is the dimensionless interaction strength within the Lieb–Liniger model. We rigorously prove that such a statistical parameter α solely determines the sub-leading order contribution to the M-body local correlation function of the gas at strong but finite interaction strengths. We explicitly calculate the correlation functions g_M in terms of γ and α at zero, low, and intermediate temperatures. For M = 2 and 3 our results reproduce the known expressions for g₂ and g₃ with sub-leading terms (see for instance (Vadim et al 2006 Phys. Rev. A 73 051604(R); Kormos et al 2009 Phys. Rev. Lett.103 210404; Wang et al 2013 Phys. Rev. A 87 043634). We also express the leading order of the short distance non-local correlation functions $\langle {{\rm{\Psi }}}^{\dagger }({x}_{1})\cdots {{\rm{\Psi }}}^{\dagger }({x}_{M}){\rm{\Psi }}({y}_{M})\cdots {\rm{\Psi }}({y}_{1})\rangle$ of the strongly repulsive Bose gas in terms of the wave function of M bosons at zero collision energy and zero total momentum. Here ${\rm{\Psi }}(x)$ is the boson annihilation operator. These general formulas of the higher-order local and non-local correlation functions of the 1D Bose gas provide new insights into the many-body physics.

We predict the occurrence of metastable skyrmionic spin structures such as antiskyrmions and higher-order skyrmions in ultra-thin transition-metal films at surfaces using Monte Carlo simulations based on a spin Hamiltonian parametrized from density functional theory calculations. We show that such spin structures will appear with a similar contrast in spin-polarized scanning tunneling microscopy images. Both skyrmions and antiskyrmions display a circular shape for out-of-plane magnetized tips and a two-lobe butterfly contrast for in-plane tips. An unambiguous distinction can be achieved by rotating the tip magnetization direction without requiring the information of all components of the magnetization.

We demonstrate how a toroidal Bose–Einstein condensate with a movable barrier can be used to realize an atomtronic SQUID. The magnitude of the barrier height, which creates the analogue of an SNS junction, is of crucial importance, as well as its ramp-up and -down protocol. For too low of a barrier, the relaxation of the system is dynamically suppressed, due to the small rate of phase slips at the barrier. For a higher barrier, the phase coherence across the barrier is suppressed due to thermal fluctuations, which are included in our Truncated Wigner approach. Furthermore, we show that the ramp-up protocol of the barrier can be improved by ramping up its height first, and its velocity after that. This protocol can be further improved by optimizing the ramp-up and ramp-down time scales, which is of direct practical relevance for on-going experimental realizations.

A boson two-leg ladder in the presence of a synthetic magnetic flux is investigated by means of bosonization techniques and density matrix renormalization group (DMRG). We follow the quantum phase transition from the commensurate Meissner to the incommensurate vortex phase with increasing flux at different fillings. When the applied flux is ρπ and close to it, where ρ is the filling per rung, we find a second incommensuration in the vortex state that affects physical observables such as the momentum distribution, the rung–rung correlation function and the spin–spin and charge–charge static structure factors.