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Phase transitions and critical phenomena are the changes of a system from one regime or state to another exhibiting very different properties, and the unusual effects that occur on the boundary between them. A change in the state of matter, such as from a solid to a liquid, is a classic example.
The frameworks to simulate pathogen, malware and failure spreading are computationally demanding, and they are subject to large statistical uncertainty. The authors develop efficient inference and control algorithms based on dynamic message passing to study a two-layer spreading process, where the spreading infection triggers cascading failures and leads to secondary disasters.
Finding an optimal shape for transport networks, represented as multilayer structures, is a challenging problem. The authors propose analytical and computational frameworks to analyze sharp transitions from symmetric to asymmetric shapes in optimal networks, that can be applied for planning and development of improved multimodal transportation systems within a city.
Bose-Einstein condensates (BEC) of ultracold atoms serve as low-entropy sources for a multitude of quantum-science applications. Here, the authors realize a non-ground-state caesium BEC with tunable interactions and tunable loss, opening up new possibilities for polaron and impurity physics.
Ternary alloys of rare-earths and transition metals exhibit complex ferrimagnetic behavior as a function of alloy compositions. Here, X-ray magnetic circular dichroism of the Gd6(Mn1−xFex)23 series is used to explain the composition dependence of sublattice Curie temperatures in terms of element-specific magnetic moment evolution.
The study of defects and boundaries in the context of conformal field theory is important but challenging in dimensions higher than two. Here the authors use the recently developed fuzzy sphere regularization approach to perform non-perturbative analysis of defect conformal field theory in 3D
Electrocaloric effects have not hitherto been experimentally studied at a phase transition created by strain. It is now shown that the continuous transition created by epitaxial strain in strontium titanate films greatly enhances electrocaloric effects over a wide range of temperatures, including room temperature.
Ageing is a non-linear, irreversible process that defines many properties of glassy materials. Now, it is shown that the so-called material-time formalism can describe ageing in terms of equilibrium-like properties.
The integration of theory and experiment makes possible tracking the slow evolution of a photodoped Mott insulator to a distinct non-equilibrium metallic phase under the influence of electron-lattice coupling.
Quasicrystals are ordered but not periodic, which makes them fascinating objects at the interface between order and disorder. Experiments with ultracold atoms zoom in on this interface by driving a quasicrystal and exploring its fractal properties.