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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 14h

Researchers found that microscopic particles moving in a liquid can save over 30% of transport energy by taking curved paths instead of straight ones. This could provide a route to more energy-efficient control of microscopic systems. 📄 go.aps.org/4rHiQ0q

Two panels labeled (e) and (f). Panel (e) shows two pairs of particles following curved, mirrored trajectories as their optical traps move vertically. The curves illustrate the predicted energy-efficient paths that allow the particles to take advantage of hydrodynamic coupling. Panel (f) shows work versus trajectory curvature for co-propagating (blue), single-particle (orange), and counter-propagating (pink) particles. The minima occur at nonzero curvature for the interacting cases, showing that curved, cooperative trajectories require less energy than straight-line motion.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 29/09/2026

Scientists observed hydrodynamic skyrmions in quasicrystals. Skyrmion orientation and shape evolved due to phason-like motions, but global topology remained stable. The platform could potentially offer control over particle dynamics. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4hwuXZv

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 24/09/2026

A novel simulation framework based on automatic differentiation achieves a new level of accuracy and scalability — tackling a key challenge in simulation of open quantum many-body bosonic systems in the deep quantum regime. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4d6TFOO

A snapshot of the Wigner
function at a representative time, together with a schematic illustration of the
Gaussian decomposition underlying the variational multi-Gaussian ansatz.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 23/09/2026

A new paper presents one of the first solvable models of chaotic many-body dynamics with a time-independent Hamiltonian — showing energy spreads diffusively, directly controlling the spectral form factor. 🔗 go.aps.org/4yX0ECo

Line plot with x-axis λ²t ranging from 0 to 500 and y-axis C₀ₓ(t) ranging from 0 to 0.10. Dozens of curves fan out from near the origin, colored on a gradient from yellow (top) through orange and pink to dark purple (bottom). Yellow curves start near 0.10 and fall steeply; purple curves start near zero and rise gradually. All curves converge and flatten together toward the right side of the plot around 0.01 by λ²t = 500.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 21/09/2026

How well can quantum information hold up against noise? A new study finds that in some fractional quantum Hall states, information stored in non-Abelian anyons stays fully recoverable under decoherence. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4hCWgT8

An orange diagram on a cream background. Four dots are labeled σ1, σ2, σ3, and σ4 at top-left, bottom-left, top-right, and bottom-right. Diagonal lines connect σ1 to σ2 and σ3 to σ4, meeting at two central points. A horizontal line connects these two center points, labeled 1, ψ.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 21/09/2026

🧲 Competing magnetic interactions in the pyrochlore lattice can freeze into a new “mixed” magnetic order — or into a spin nematic phase with none at all, just broken rotational symmetry. Read the study: go.aps.org/4xvbG0l

An illustration of a pyrochlore lattice made of triangular tetrahedra, each with black dots at the corners. The tetrahedra are connected by corners, with one tetrahedron numbered 0, 1, 2, 3 at its corners in the lower right. Each tetrahedron's edges are colored blue (z-chains), red diagonal (y-chains) and orange (x-chains).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 18/09/2026

🧠 This carbon nanotube foam remembers exactly how it was squeezed — like a hard drive, but mechanical. A new paper shows the first clean case of return point memory in a soft, elastic material, driven by nanoscale friction between nanotubes. Check it out: go.aps.org/4h8P0Nq

A two-part figure. At left: a 3D illustration of a cylindrical test rig with a teal cylindrical sample labeled "Precompressed VACNT" at the base, compressed between metal plates, a dark green arrow pointing downward onto the top plate. At right: a teal dotted-line graph plotting shifted stress labeled σ–σs on the y-axis, from -0.4 to 0.4, against shifted strain labeled ε–εs on the x-axis, from -5 to 5. The curve forms a large outer loop with a smaller loop inside it, with arrows pointing at them labeled "Sub-loops."

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 17/09/2026

💎 Why do two forms of La3Ni2O7 exhibit very different superconductivity? A new study on the monolayer-trilayer phase says it comes down to interlayer coupling of bilayer NiO6 units. Check it out: go.aps.org/4Ai1T0j

A crystal structure diagram. On the left, a tall column shows blue octahedra stacking along a vertical c-axis. Small orange spheres labeled "La" are between the layers. On the right, two larger insets show details of the individual octahedra, with a dark blue center sphere labeled "Ni" surrounded by gray spheres labeled “O.” The lower inset shows a stacked octahedra connected at a 180-degree angle.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 17/09/2026

🔬 Is a tracked particle's motion truly "ergodic"? The standard test used in single-particle tracking can be fooled, but this new paper proposes a fix: Swap the usual displacement measure for the mean-squared increment. Read more: go.aps.org/4yIE68e

A diagram with a stack of four labeled horizontal trajectory plots, f(X₁(t)) through f(Xₙ(t)), each showing a thin blue squiggly line fluctuating around a black horizontal axis, with "t" on the right of each plot. Ellipses sit between f(X3(t)) and f(Xₙ(t)). A vertical magenta band crosses all four plots at the same point, with an arrow pointing up to the label ⟨f⟩. A horizontal green band highlights the second trajectory f(X₂(t)) with an arrow pointing right to the label f̄.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 16/09/2026

🌀 A new paper tackles a weak point in neural-network quantum simulations by introducing blurred sampling, which restores stable optimization and accurate real-time dynamics with minimal overhead. Check it out: go.aps.org/4xqC8bo

Two side-by-side 3D surface plots shaped like curved valleys, shaded blue in the center and red near the upper edges. Both are labeled with a curved line marked "𝒩" running across the surface. The left is labeled p(x) and shows several black dots scattered across the surface and a black curved line drawn along the “valley” floor. The right is labeled r(x') and shows a red arrow labeled "Blur" pointing from a curved solid line to a curved dashed line with red dots. Curved black arrows show dots moving from open circles to new positions on the dashed line.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 15/09/2026

Scanning tunneling spectroscopy and theoretical modeling reveals a new mechanism that flattens the mixed-type saddle point of a Kagome lattice on the surface of Co3Sn2S2 into a higher-order van Hove singularity. Read more: go.aps.org/4y2LbAK

Scientific Illustration with four sections: A, B, C, D. Section A is a topographic image of the Co3Sn surface with kagome lattice. A blue rectangle with honeycomb pattern is labeled 'Topography'. It has a small hexagram on top, with 3 balls at 3 points, then 2 balls to its right, 2 balls to its left. The scale bar is labeled 1nm. Section B features six topographic images of the same lattice, each with the same pentagram and balls but the honeycomb patterns are blurred and orange. Starting from the left, each of the six lattices is labeled: -250 meV, -115 meV, -70meV, -25meV, 0meV, and finally 200meV. Lattices 3, 4 and 5 also have label underneath that says 'symmetry broken'. Section C is a graph with amplitude (au) on y axis and E (meV) on x axis. Three lines - red, green and blue display three Bragg peaks. Section D is a graph with phase on y axis, going from 0 at the bottom to 4π at the top and E (meV) on x axis, going from -200 to 200. The bragg peaks are red, green and blue.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 14/09/2026

A new study shows that active cavity feedback cuts polariton decay rates by more than 10x, boosting cooperativity and enabling strong photon-magnon-phonon coupling. These results overcome a major material limit for hybrid quantum systems. Read more: go.aps.org/3TsHhlu

A plot of linewidth versus feedback gain. There are three lines going across it. One line connecting orange diamonds shows the intrinsic magnon dissipation rate, which stays nearly constant. One line connecting blue squares shows the effective cavity linewidth, which decreases with feedback. Between them, a line with red circles and green stars shows the lower- and upper-polariton linewidths, respectively. Both decrease as feedback increases, falling below the magnon dissipation rate, showing that feedback can suppress polariton losses beyond the material limit.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 14/09/2026

Flexible filaments under oscillatory shear don’t just bend and bounce back: they settle into one of two coexisting attractor states and randomly hop between them. New study combines actin experiments with simulations. Read more: go.aps.org/4hdIOnw

A grid of five rows, each showing a filament's shape across one oscillation cycle. Each row has two panels of five frames. Top frames show white fluorescent microscopy images of a glowing actin filament on a black background. Bottom frames show matching black line-tracing on a gray background. Left and right panel groups are separated by a thick vertical line, colored red if the filament is buckled at that point or blue if straight. Across the five rows, the filaments start straight and progressively bend into varied curves and S-shapes.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 11/09/2026

A new study shows that the surface of antiferromagnets can develop 2D altermagnetism, greatly increasing the number of materials that might have this useful property. The finding provides a new way to create very thin, 2D magnetic materials. 📄 go.aps.org/3Toh73i

A graph showing the electronic states at a material’s surface. The x-axis shows momentum along a high-symmetry path on the surface, and the y-axis is labeled E/J. One pair of red and blue lines (with colors depicting spectral weight in the spin-up and down channels, respectively) wiggles across the upper portion near a dashed yellow line that goes straight across at 0.8 E/J, and another pair wiggles across the lower portion roughly centered on -1 E/J, showing surface spin splitting.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 11/09/2026

This paper finds that angular momentum imposes crucial constraints on configuration space of quantum quadrupoles, opening the door to a new wave of investigations exploring multipoles in pyrochlore materials. Get the details: go.aps.org/4yyDBxu

Scientific figure. Eight tetrahedra, four on top row, four on bottom row; each with red and blue quadrupolar orbitals at four points. Top left: “A1.” Magenta arrows pointing outward from each orbital. Top middle left: “T2, planar.” Arrows pointing up. Top middle right: “T1.” Top two arrows point up and down. Bottom two arrows point up and down. Top right: “Epsi3.” Top two arrows point left and right. Bottom left arrows point inwards into the shape. Bottom right arrow points leftwards.

Bottom left: “T2, ice.” Top two arrows point outwards. Two bottom arrows point inwards. The final three shapes in the bottom row have green arrows. Bottom middle left: “T2, planar.” Four arrows point up. Bottom middle right: “T1.” Top two arrows point up and down. Bottom two arrows point up and down. Bottom right: “Epsi2.” Top two arrows point up. Bottom arrows point down. All shapes are labeled “(t2g),” except for the final 3, labeled “(eg).”

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 10/09/2026

A new study presents a theoretical framework showing that isolated quantum systems never fully erase their past. Instead, they leave behind quantum birthmarks — persistent memories of a system's initial state and early dynamics. Learn more: go.aps.org/4xn5lnV

A depiction of a quantum birthmark. The figure displays the long-time average of the probability density for a Gaussian wavepacket initialized along a bowtie quantum scar at the center of a stadium billiard.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 10/09/2026

Contrary to established wisdom, a new study reveals that kagome superconductors possess local magnetic moments that influence their electronic properties and provide an explanation for observed broken time-reversal symmetry. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4r5jWTm

A series of sketches illustrating four Kagome lattices (a, b, c, and d), represented as simple, triangular-shaped outlines with various interior lines. Panels (a) and (c) are labelled as geometrically frustrated and contain an internal lattice of grey lines intersecting with pink arrows pointed in various directions. Panels (b) and (d) are labelled as frustration relieved and contain an internal lattice of green and orange lines intersecting with pink arrows pointed in similar directions.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 09/09/2026

In a general quantum-circuit framework for Wigner’s friend scenarios, all Frauchiger-Renner-like paradoxes are resolved while remaining consistent with causality principles — overcoming key challenges in these scenarios without altering the Born rule. 🔗 go.aps.org/4hgE6X4

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 08/09/2026

By applying dynamic topological landscapes to a mixture of starfish embryos, scientists developed a flowstate framework that quantifies how nonreciprocal transitions sculpt the architecture of active and living matter. Read more: go.aps.org/4r3NH71

A video showing a binary mixture of starfish embryos moving about under a microscope, with overlaid arrows denoting their two-minute trajectories. E1 embryos are colored blue and E2 embryos are colored red.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 04/09/2026

A team observes the transverse polarization of the Lambda-c baryon produced via electron-positron annihilations in the BESIII detector, providing valuable tests of the strong and electro-weak theory in the Standard Model. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4yovAv2

A series of three graphs plot the 2D density distributions of |A| and |B|, with |A| on the x-axis and |B| on the y-axis. Each graph contains an oval-like, blue-shaded region, which represents the distribution of |A| and |B| obtained in the new paper. The graphs also contain an array of circular, square, and plus-shaped markers of various colors, which denote theoretical calculations and experimental measurements from previous papers.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 03/09/2026

New research bridges a persistent gap in spintronics by demonstrating a spin-orbit filtering mechanism for unconventional spin current generation and efficient, field-free switching through crystal symmetry engineering. Read more: go.aps.org/4h7SaC7

A molecular schematic displaying the noncollinear spin-orbit filtering effect in a high-symmetry interface (grey rectangular cuboid). Purple arrows on the surface of the cuboid denote the Rashba-Edelstein field, with one straight arrow pointing in the direction of a smaller set of arrows arranged in a circle. A brown arrow pointing in the x-direction represents the charge current Jc, while grey arrows pointing up and to the left represent the resulting orthogonal spin currents Js1 and Js2. Trios of red spheres with red arrows running through them denote σ, found alongside the orthogonal spin currents. The cuboid also contains a smaller cube at the bottom right, formed by interspersed grey spheres.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 01/09/2026

A new unified framework combines principles of locality and generalized noncontextuality into a method to detect any entangled state, providing a novel tool for gauge-independent entanglement certification with wide-ranging applications. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4qMwqiF

A sketch of the bipartite states 𝜌AB, visualized as a circular (left) and compressed oval shape (right). On the left, the circular sketch is composed of various overlapping circles denoting all quantum states (purple), local states (yellow), unsteerable (light red), separable (orange), and classical (red). Each of these internal circles is connected by arrows indicating its equivalence to being classical relative to one of various subsets of operational identities. On the right, the compressed oval sketch contains similar internal layers, with the central layer labelled as separable (orange).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 31/08/2026

Optically driven yttrium barium copper oxide shows puzzling magnetic signals at high temps. New theory ties this to a flux-Floquet instability, not light-induced superconductivity — evidence for preformed Cooper pairs in the pseudogap phase. Read more: go.aps.org/4cVn8ej

A sketch of the crystal structure of yttrium barium copper oxide looks like a sandwich structure, with the top and bottom each consisting of two layers of copper oxide separated by an yttrium atom, and the center composed of two barium atoms.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 31/08/2026

A team has engineered efficient quantum algorithms that can symmetrize non-strictly increasing integer lists, which could tackle open problems in low-depth symmetrization and inform applications like quantum telescope arrays. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4d6vhfV

A figure visualizing a permutation-lower exceeding sequences (LES) diagram, illustrated as a 6-by-6 grid of black squares. The diagram corresponds to σ(123456) = 436125, listed on the x-axis, and the corresponding LES of 121153, listed on the y-axis. The grid contains colored outlines denoting smaller rectangular sections of varying sizes. The colors include red, yellow, green, blue, orange, and purple, and indicate the corresponding element of the LES on the y-axis (1 = blue, 2 = green, 1 = orange, 1 = purple, 5 = yellow, 3 = red).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 28/08/2026

Researchers prepared a simple and efficient protocol for quantum thermal state preparation that leverages “quantum detailed balance” conditions and show its utility for quantum simulation in the 2D quantum Ising model. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4cLqTms

A simple diagram illustrates the protocol for quantum thermal state preparation. Stage (i) involves initializing a bath of auxiliary qubits in the |0⟩ state, denoted by a black rectangle with a single red line and four blue lines emerging from it. Stage (ii) shows the joint unitary evolution, while stage (iii) displays the reset of the bath qubits, indicated with a recycle sign. Stage (iv) displays the randomization step that suppresses unwanted system coherences, represented by another black rectangle with blue lines running out from it. At the bottom, a wave-like line represents the filter function f(τ).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 28/08/2026

A new study uses femtosecond trPOT to build one of the first reconstructions of an exciton wave function, establishing an experimentally accessible approach to visualize these functions with high spatial, phase, and temporal resolution. 🔗 go.aps.org/4xuDEKG

A 3D structural model portrays the four-monolayer film used in the experiments. It displays four monolayers of 6T (yellow elongated shapes) on the Cu(110)-(2 x 1)O substrate. A label on one of the monolayers indicates how the molecular planes are tilted by 32 degrees with respect to the sample surface, which is composed of oxygen atoms (smaller red spheres) interspersed among a field of copper atoms (larger gray spheres). The model also illustrates the angular distribution of the emitted electrons, as well as the normal incidence pump (blue) and p-polarized probe (red) pulses.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 26/08/2026

Living systems operate out of equilibrium to enable rich, complex behaviors. To quantify how far from equilibrium a system is, a study proposes a simple method that tracks and categorizes individual molecules’ displacements. Read more: go.aps.org/4hWqD7Q

The structure of the talin-1 protein represented as curly ribbons in red, orange, yellow, greens, and blues.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 26/08/2026

A new study shows metastable materials undergo aging, degradation, and structural relaxation even in controlled environments without external stimuli, placing important constraints on functional materials. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4xsxlHA

A plot showing Hall carrier concentration of the texted material versus temperature at six different points during its storage time: as sintered, one month, 1.5 months, six months, one year, and two years. Each successive measurement falls slightly below its preceding one.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 26/08/2026

A new study reports a hardware-efficient, error-resilient demonstration of a quantum routing network — a step towards achieving a scalable, resilient bucket-brigade quantum random access memory. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4ccVSI1

A schematic of the design of a quantum router. An input qubit, control qutrit, and two path qubits are represented by green circles organized in a tree, with the input at the top, the control in the middle, and the two paths on the bottom. A double-sided arrow points from the input to the left path, and another from the input to the right path, indicating the swap operation that routes the input based on the address state of the control qutrit.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 25/08/2026

🔗 How do you bound quantum correlations when real devices are imperfect? A new paper introduces the relaxation method block moment matrices, which matches or beats prior best-known bounds in real-world scenarios. Read more: go.aps.org/4itGxqb

A line chart with two y-axes plotting several curves against a shared x-axis labeled ω, ranging from 0.00 to 0.08. The left y-axis, labeled Wd, ranges from 0.75 to 1.00. The right y-axis, labeled Ps in purple, ranges from 0.4 to 0.7. A horizontal gray dashed line sits at the top of the chart. Four colored solid curves rise from left to right, all starting between about 0.72 and about 0.86: red (W2), blue (W3), tan (W4), and green (W5). A purple dashed curve (EHesse) rises across the plot, tracked against the right y-axis.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 25/08/2026

⚛️ A new study presents an AFQMC method that cuts the costs of simulating solids to match diffusion Monte Carlo. It reaches thermodynamic and basis-set limits without empirical corrections. Read more: go.aps.org/4caAhjv

A 3D lattice of large gray spheres and smaller red spheres connected by thin gray lines. The gray spheres contain vertical arrows pointing up, colored blue, or down, colored orange.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 24/08/2026

Scientists combine a powerful neural network wavefunction and a new DVMS algorithm to derive solutions for the ground state in molecules and solids — presenting a novel framework to parse many-body electronic structure. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4c6qJpw

A visualization of the Periodic Dynamic Voronoi Metropolis Sampling process. Panel (a) displays a rectangle split into regions of varying colors, which represents a periodic Voronoi diagram generated from the sites. The diagram partitions the space and constrains sampling to specific cells (red regions) and black circles represent the sites. Above, a plot illustrates the spatial probability distribution for electrons in x, y, and z dimensions where red circles represent electron’s walkers. An arrow points to panel (b), which provides a sketch of the 2D periodic COM calculation algorithm with marks for walkers (blue dots), incorrect COM (red x’s), and correct COM (red stars). Below are visuals of a longitudinal cylinder and a transverse cylinder, which give rise to the position expectation of the walkers, XCOM and YCOM. These form a new site and complete an iteration as indicated by an arrow pointing back towards the periodic Voronoi diagram.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 21/08/2026

Using single-crystal scattering experiments and machine learning simulations, a study shows how ions move collectively through superionic crystals — revealing correlated ion motion and lattice vibrations that drive superionic conductivity. 🔗 go.aps.org/45AX6ZX

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 21/08/2026

By carefully tuning the mixing of Fock states, researchers generated optical Schrödinger cat states at record-breaking amplitudes. These states can be key to developing quantum computing and information processing. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4wI4D47

The single- and two-photon Fock states enter the beam splitter for controlled mixing to generate a superposition state that approximates an odd cat state.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 20/08/2026

By harnessing Rydberg molecular spectroscopy, scientists extract and decode electron-ytterbium interactions and show that ytterbium ultralong-range Rydberg molecules offer powerful probes for experiments with divalent atoms. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4zouFvL

Panel (a) displays an illustration of an ultralong-range Rydberg molecule. A red circle at the middle denotes the ionic core, which is surrounded by layers of grey rings that denote the Rydberg electronic wave function. A blue circle at the edge denotes a bound ground-state atom. Panel (b) visualizes the photoassociation of ytterbium Rydberg molecules in the 6sns1S0 manifold. The drawing shows three horizontal black lines connected with dark and light purple arrows, corresponding to pulsed excitation lasers at 399 nm and 395-397 nm, respectively. Panel (c) visualizes the study’s experimental setup, with ultralong-range Rydberg molecules at the center in a green oval representing a dense atomic cloud. Arrows denote excitation lasers entering the atomic cloud and an orange ring denotes high-voltage electrodes above the cloud that ionize the Rydberg atoms after each excitation pulse. A deflection electrode guides the ions towards a microchannel plane (grey oval).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 19/08/2026

In most ferroelectrics, domain walls — boundaries between oppositely polarized regions — come at an energetic cost. A study shows that hafnium oxide avoids this cost using pair condensation, enabling low-energy, bulk-like domain walls. Read more: go.aps.org/3UoUdsC

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 19/08/2026

A systematic analysis of real-space topology of wavefunctions reveals how topological features shape the physics of twisted bilayer-graphene, helping to advance the current understanding of moiré systems. Check out the paper: go.aps.org/4i1LjLJ

Panel (a) displays a series of three graphs plotting electronic densities of the six orbital (c1, c2, c3, c4, f1, f2). The charts correspond to ρ1(r) = ρ2(r) (left), ρ3(r) = ρ4(r) (middle), and ρf,1(r) = ρf, 2(r) (right). A light hexagon depicts the unit cell centered at the AA site, with its edges corresponding to the BA and AB sites. Each region of the chart is colored according to a color scale bar on the right, ranging from dark blue for the lowest values to bright red for the highest. Panel (b) displays a similar trio of graphs with the same color scale bar, which display the real-space Berry curvatures for the six orbitals of the topological heavy fermion model. The charts correspond to B2(r) = –B1(r) (left), B4(r) = –B3(r) (middle), and Bf,2(r) = –Bf,1(r) (right).

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 18/08/2026

Using an all-to-all spin model and new diagonalization numerics, researchers show that the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis requires generalization in the presence of thermal first-order phase transitions. Read the paper: go.aps.org/3U3OwAk

Panels (a-d) display a series of four phase diagrams, with hz on the x-axis and hx on the y-axis. Panels (a) and (b) show diagrams for the value of energy density and spin size at the branch crossing, respectively. Panel (c) displays a diagram for the positive and negative values of the logarithm of the ratio between level spacing and matrix element. Panel (d) displays a diagram for the difference between optimal mt where tunneling happens and mcross at the crossing. White regions on the graphs correspond to where the crossing doesn’t occur, while the other regions are filled with varying shades of color, indicated by a color scale bar on each graph.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 17/08/2026

By using symmetry as a fundamental principle, scientists establish a new theory of electromagnetism and chirality in crystalline solids that yields 15 types of crystal structures and includes novel and previously overlooked versions of chirality. 📝 go.aps.org/465fHNJ

A diagram illustrates the translational motion, structure, and energy surfaces of crystal structures for four forms of chirality: parachiral, electrochiral, magnetochiral, and antimagnetochiral (left to right). The first row of diagrams illustrates the translational motion of shown objects in each form of chirality with grey arrows. The second row displays the parachiral structure for corundum and its unichiral derivatives, illustrated with ball-and-stick molecular models. The bottom row displays energy surfaces and associated spin structures corresponding to the structures above, represented as amorphous blue sphere-like objects in a three-dimensional space.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 17/08/2026

By increasing the carrier density in one bilayer, study shows how to suppress the superconductivity and the correlated-insulator states in the adjacent magic-angle graphene — providing support for an unconventional Cooper pairing mechanism. 📄 go.aps.org/4gAmiFX

On the top is a color graph showing longitudinal resistivity as a function of carrier density in the top and bottom twisted bilayer graphene at 35 mK. nbTBG(1012 cm-2) is on the bottom x-axis and VbTBG is on the top x-axis. ntTBG (1012 cm-2) is on the left y-axis and VtTBG is on the right y-axis. A blue-to-yellow color scale represents a range of values of 𝜌𝑥𝑥 (Ω). Below is a graph showing 𝜌𝑥𝑥 as a function of density, nbg. VbTBG is on the x-axis and 𝜌𝑥𝑥 (Ω) on the y-axis.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 13/08/2026

A platform that combines Hamiltonian and Lindbladian learning achieves bounded-error quantum simulation for many-body observables, providing a scalable foundation for trusted analog quantum computation. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4qej9iz

Panel (a) displays a 10x10 array of squares corresponding to the dephasing Lindbladian for 10 ions. The squares’ positions indicate ion positions ranging from 1 to 10. They are colored according to values indicated in a color scale bar ranging from dark blue for 0 to bright yellow for above 70. Panel (b) displays a simple chart with a coefficient of the jump operator equation, ai, on the x-axis and ion position i on the y-axis. The chart displays various horizontal black lines ending in black circles at regular intervals, representing the dephasing process.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 13/08/2026

Building on the enumeration of spin space groups, researchers devise a symmetry-based framework that can classify all possible spin arrangements and predicts a variety of novel magnetic phases and layered counterparts. Read the paper: go.aps.org/4wpyRsm

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 12/08/2026

⚡ Thermoelectric materials can convert heat directly into electricity, but phase changes often degrade their performance. New research shows that thermal degradation in MgAgSb can be reversed through low-temperature annealing. Check it out: go.aps.org/4ziMAnO

Line graph with hot-side temperature (K) on the x-axis from 300–600 and efficiency (%) on the y-axis from 0–10. Three lines are plotted: blue squares labeled “As prepared”, red circles labeled “Recovered after annealing,” and gray triangles labeled "After heating up to 613 K.” All three lines rise from near 0% with the blue and red curves tracking closely with the gray curve below both.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 12/08/2026

Applying 3D microscopy, the authors of a new study interrogate how polycrystallinity evolves in homogeneously nuclear colloidal crystals and paint a new portrait of the structure, orientation, and birth of new grains from nucleation events. 🔗 go.aps.org/45o8NmE

The figure displays four panels portraying a 3D rendering of large fields of particles at four different time points during crystal nucleation and growth: (a) 8 hours, (b) 9.3 hours, (c) 10.7 hours, and (d) 12 hours. Face centered cubic particles are colored yellow, hexagonal close packed particles are red, and amorphous particles translucent blue. In the first panel at 8 hours, the vast majority of particles are amorphous, with only small groups of both particles spread throughout. Both particles spread and become more widespread as time progresses, dominating the particle field at 12 hours.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 11/08/2026

🧲 Can mechanical strain control an altermagnet? A new study shows that uniaxial strain can tune the anomalous Hall effect in α-MnTe near room temperature, with applications in spintronic devices. Read more: go.aps.org/3Srfe5m

A six-panel grid of data at three temperatures (240 Kelvin, 233 Kelvin, and 230 Kelvin), arranged in two rows. The top row plots show H Δ⍴xy versus applied field μ0H from -1 to 1 Tesla. They each contain five stacked curves colored blue, teal, green, yellow, and red, each labeled with a percentage value from -0.18% to 0.17%. The bottom row plots Δρxx versus applied field μ0H from -1 to 1 Tesla, showing five V-shaped colored curves.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 11/08/2026

Using a two-particle self-consistent plus approach, a new study addresses a long-standing mystery in the 2D Hubbard model by linking peaks in compressibility and the Knight shift to the disappearance of the pseudogap. Read more: go.aps.org/4xEVPwV

Four line graphs compare how compressibility (left) and uniform magnetic susceptibility (right) change with doping in the 2D Hubbard model for two interaction strengths and four temperatures.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 10/08/2026

An algorithm for simulating the rigidity percolation transition overcomes previous size limitations and enables the highly precise characterization of its universality classes — shedding new light on rigidity transitions in amorphous systems. 📄 go.aps.org/3TNwpP6

A graph showing the stages of the rigidity transition, with p on the x-axis and probability on the y-axis. The blue, orange and green curves represent the probability as a function of the bond concentration that the activation of a new bond results in a pivoting event, P in blue, a rigidification event, R in orange, or an overconstraining event, O in green. The graph indicates the critical bond concentrations pCPc = 2 sin(π/18) [50] and pRPc ≈ 0.6602 of the C to P and R to P transition respectively. Curves are shown for L = 210.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 07/08/2026

Using resonant inelastic X-ray scattering measurements, researchers directly observe propagating plasmons in the low-valence nickelate Pr4Ni3O8 and identify dynamics that are distinct from those of cuprate superconductors. Read the study: go.aps.org/3SjuNvS

A resonant inelastic X-ray scattering intensity map of Pr4Ni3O8 with momentum on the x-axis and plasmon energy in eV on the y-axis. The data form a red U-shaped curve with its lowest point where momentum equals zero.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 07/08/2026

Researchers present new advances in quantum statistical mechanics and information theory with a variation of the Feynman-Kitaev clock and a Floquet system whose eigenstates obey the eigenstate thermalization hypothesis. Read the study: go.aps.org/4wdsqIY

A schematic visualizing the ground state (|ΨGS⟩) of the periodic Feynman-Kitaev clock Hamiltonian, represented as a horizontal ladder of orange and blue dots connected by black lines. The orange dots at the top leg of the ladder represent a qubit chain of “spins,” while the blue dots at the bottom leg of the ladder represent a fermionic chain of “clock.” Above and below the ladder, several wavy lines represent the phenomenon of entanglement. A yellow box in the middle represents subintervals (A) of the spin-clock ladder that are volume-law entangled, with l denoting the length of the interval.

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Physical Review X @physrevx.aps.org · 06/08/2026

A large stress generated by a small tip drives a reaction between two materials in a 2D encapsulated space to produce a new material with interesting electronic properties that can be “written” into patterns as small as 50 nanometers. Read the study: go.aps.org/456Tj6p

A depiction of the experimental setup for mechanochemically induced growth of Pd7MoTe2, depicted as vertical dark purple rectangles on the outer edges of the image. The top image shows the atomic force microscope tip exerting pressure between Pd7MoTe2 across a layer of light purple MoTe2 by repeatedly scanning along a single scan line. Below is the same image but showing a dark purple Pd7MoTe2 nanowire where the scan line previously was.

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