Bond breaking in the presence of highly energetic carriers is central to many important phenomena in physics and chemistry, including radiation damage, hot-carrier degradation, activation of dopant-hydrogen complexes in semiconductors, and photocatalysis. Describing these processes from first principles has remained an elusive goal. Here we introduce a comprehensive theoretical framework for the dissociation process, emphasizing the need for a non-adiabatic approach. We benchmark the results for the case of silicon-hydrogen bond dissocation, a primary process for hot-carrier degradation. Passivation of Si dangling bonds by hydrogen is vital in all Si devices because it eliminates electrically active mid-gap states; understanding the mechanism for dissociation of these bonds is therefore crucial for device technology. While the need for a non-adiabatic approach has been previously recognized, explicitly obtaining diabatic states for solid-state systems has been an outstanding challenge. We demonstrate how to obtain these states by applying a partitioning scheme to the Hamiltonian obtained from first-principles density functional theory. Our results demonstrate that bond dissociation can occur when electrons temporarily occupy the antibonding states, generating a highly repulsive excited-state potential that causes the hydrogen nuclear wavepacket to shift and propagate rapidly. Based on the Menzel-Gomer-Redhead (MGR) model, we show that after moving on this excited-state potential on femtosecond timescales, a portion of the nuclear wavepacket can continue to propagate even after the system relaxes back to the ground state, allowing us to determine the dissociation probability. Our results provide essential insights into the fundamental processes that drive carrier-induced bond breaking in general, and specifically elucidate hydrogen-related degradation in Si devices.

The first observation of the decay $B^{+}\rightarrow p \bar{\itΛ}$ is presented, using proton-proton collision data collected by the LHCb experiment between 2016 and 2018 at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of $5.4\,\mathrm{fb}^{-1}$. The signal significance exceeds seven standard deviations. Using the $B^{+} \rightarrow K^{\mathrm{0}}_{\mathrm{S}} π^{+}$ decay as a normalization channel, the branching fraction is measured and combined with previous LHCb results based on data collected at 7 and 8 TeV in 2011 and 2012, yielding $\mathcal{B}(B^{+}\rightarrow p \bar{\itΛ})=(1.24\pm 0.17\pm 0.05\pm 0.03)\times 10^{-7}$, where the first uncertainty is statistical, the second is systematic, and the third comes from the uncertainty on the branching fraction of the normalization channel. The $B^{+}\rightarrow p \bar{\itΛ}$ weak decay parameter is measured to be $α_B = 0.87_{-0.29}^{+0.26} \pm 0.09$, indicating the presence of comparable S-wave and P-wave decay amplitudes.

Chemistry in diffuse molecular clouds relies primarily on rapid ion-molecule reactions. Formation of the initial ions, H$^+$ and H$_2^+$, is dominated by cosmic-ray ionization of H and H$_2$, making the cosmic-ray ionization rate (denoted $ζ({\rm X})$ for species X) an important parameter for chemical modeling. We have made observations targeting absorption lines of H$_3^+$, one of the most reliable tracers of $ζ({\rm H_2})$, toward diffuse molecular cloud sight lines where the H$_2$ column density has been directly measured in the ultraviolet, detecting H$_3^+$ in 12 out of 27 sight lines. The 3D-PDR modeling method introduced by Obolentseva et al. (2024) was used to infer cosmic-ray ionization rates in the clouds along these sight lines, and our combined sample has a mean ionization rate of $5.3\times10^{-17}$ s$^{-1}$ with standard deviation $2.5\times10^{-17}$ s$^{-1}$. By associating H$_3^+$ absorption with gas density peaks derived from the differential extinction maps of Edenhofer et al. (2024) we have constructed a sparsely sampled 3D map of the cosmic-ray ionization rate in targeted regions within about 1~kpc of the Sun. Specific regions show reasonably uniform ionization rates over length scales of tens of parsecs, with the average ionization rate in each region being different. Large differences (factor of 5) in $ζ({\rm H_2})$ are found over length scales of about 100 pc. This supports a picture where the cosmic-ray ionization rate varies smoothly over small size scales, but is not uniform everywhere in the Galactic disk, likely being controlled by proximity to particle acceleration sites.

We study gravitational wave emission from periodic orbits of a test particle around a noncommutative-inspired black hole surrounded by quintessence. Using the zoom-whirl taxonomy, which is characterized by three topological numbers $(z, w, v)$, we classify these orbits and calculate several representative gravitational waveforms for certain periodic orbits. We find that the noncommutative parameter $Θ$ and the quintessence field significantly modify both the orbital structure and the emitted waveforms. In particular, increasing $Θ$ leads to a phase shift and a change in amplitude in the waveform, while higher zoom numbers produce more complicated substructures. The characteristic strain spectra peak in the millihertz range, lying within the sensitivity band of the LISA detector. Moreover, the presence of the quintessence field introduces significant modifications to these waveforms, imprinting measurable deviations that could be tested or constrained by future space-based gravitational wave detectors. These results suggest that future space-based gravitational wave missions could probe or constrain noncommutative effects in strong gravitational fields.

This study investigates the complex Landau equation, a reaction diffusion system with applications in nonlinear optics and fluid dynamics. The equation's nonlinear imaginary component introduces rich dynamics and significant computational challenges. We address these challenges using Discontinuous Galerkin (DG) finite element methods. A rigorous stability analysis and a comparative study are performed on three distinct DG schemes : Symmetric Interior Penalty Galerkin (SIPG), Nonsymmetric Interior Penalty Galerkin (NIPG), and Incomplete Interior Penalty Galerkin (IIPG). These methods are compared in terms of their stability and computational efficiency. Our numerical analysis and computational results demonstrate that all three discontinuous Galerkin (DG) schemes are stable. However, the Symmetric Interior Penalty Galerkin (SIPG) scheme proves to be the most robust, as its norm remains bounded even in the presence of nonlinear terms a property not shared by the others. A comparison between the Incomplete Interior Penalty Galerkin (IIPG) and Nonsymmetric Interior Penalty Galerkin (NIPG) schemes shows that IIPG has superior stability properties. For high values of the penalty parameter, all methods exhibit similar stability behavior. Our results highlight the suitability of DG methods for simulating complex nonlinear reaction-diffusion systems and provide a practical framework for selecting the most efficient scheme for a given problem.

In recent years, aluminum nitride (AlN) has emerged as an attractive material for integrated photonics due to its low propagation losses, wide transparency window, and presence of both second- and third-order optical nonlinearities. However, most of the research led on this platform has primarily focused on applications, rather than material optimization, although the latter is equally important to ensure its technological maturity. In this work, we show that voids, which are commonly found in crystalline AlN-on-sapphire epilayers, have a detrimental role in related photonic structures, as they can lead to propagation losses exceeding 30 dB cm$^{-1}$ at 1550 nm. Their impact on light propagation is further quantified through finite-difference time-domain simulations that reveal that void-related scattering losses are strongly dependent on their size and density in the layer. As a possible solution, we demonstrate that when introducing a thin sputtered AlN buffer layer prior to initiating AlN epitaxial growth, void-free layers are obtained. They exhibit intrinsic quality factors in microring resonators as high as $2.0\times 10^6$, corresponding to propagation losses lower than 0.2 dB cm$^{-1}$ at 1550 nm. These void-free layers are further benchmarked for high-power applications through second-harmonic and supercontinuum generation in dispersion-engineered waveguides. Such layers are highly promising candidates for short-wavelength photonic integrated circuit applications, particularly given the strong potential of AlN for visible photonics. Given that volumetric scattering losses scale as $λ^{-4}$, the platform quality becomes increasingly critical in the visible and ultraviolet range, where our improved layers are expected to deliver enhanced performance.

We explore the observational consequences of resonant particle production during inflation, focusing on its impact on dark matter annihilation signals today. A transient burst of particle production generates localised features in the primordial power spectrum, enhancing the formation of compact small-scale dark matter structures known as prompt cusps. If dark matter consists of thermal WIMPs, the resulting small-scale structures substantially boost annihilation rates, leaving potentially detectable imprints in gamma-ray observations. Using 15 years of Fermi-LAT data targeting the Virgo cluster, we derive upper limits on the thermally averaged annihilation cross section $\langle σv \rangle$, connecting inflationary particle production in the early universe with present-day observations constraining dark matter annihilation.

Point-gap topology, characterized by spectral winding numbers, is crucial to non-Hermitian topological phases and dramatically alters real-time dynamics. In this paper, we study the evolution of quantum particles in dissipative systems with imaginary gap closing, using the saddle-point approximation method. For trivial point-gap systems, imaginary gap-closing points can also be saddle points. This leads to a single power-law decay of the local Green's function, with the asymptotic scaling behavior determined by the order of these saddle points. In contrast, for nontrivial point-gap systems, imaginary gap-closing points do not coincide with saddle points in general. This results in a dynamical behavior characterized by two different scaling laws for distinct time regimes. In the short-time regime, the local Green's function is governed by the dominant saddle points and exhibits an asymptotic exponential decay. In the long-time regime, however, the dynamics is controlled by imaginary gap-closing points, leading to a power-law decay envelope. Our findings advance the understanding of quantum dynamics in dissipative systems and provide predictions testable in future experiments.

We consider a general way to obtain Prékopa-Leindler and Borell-Brascamp-Lieb type inequalities from Brunn-Minkowski type inequalities and provide numerous examples. We use the same heuristic to prove a discrete version of the Prékopa-Leindler and Borell-Brascamp-Lieb inequalities for functions over $\mathbb{Z}^d$. These are the functional extensions of the discrete Brunn-Minkowski inequality conjectured by Ruzsa and recently established by Keevash, Tiba, and the author.

In these lecture notes, we provide an introduction to the theory of mixing for incompressible flows from a PDE perspective. We discuss both the Lagrangian (ODE) and Eulerian (PDE, continuity equation) viewpoints, and introduce suitable notions of mixing scales that quantify the degree to which a scalar field transported by a velocity field becomes mixed. We then address the problem of establishing universal lower bounds on the time evolution of the mixing scale. This is first done in the smooth setting, using energy estimates and flow-based arguments, and later in the Sobolev setting, relying on quantitative estimates for regular Lagrangian flows. Finally, we present recent results concerning the sharpness of these lower bounds, their implications for the geometry and regularity of regular Lagrangian flows, and connections with more recent developments in the literature.

Microscopic master equations have gained traction for the dissipative treatment of molecular spin and solid-state systems for quantum technologies. Single particle approximations are often invoked to treat these systems, which can lead to unphysical evolution when combined with master equation approaches. We present a mathematical constraint on the system-environment parameters to ensure that microscopically-derived Markovian master equations preserve fermionic, $N$-representable statistics when applied to reduced systems. We demonstrate these constraints for the recently derived unified master equation and universal Lindblad equation, along with the Redfield master equation for cases when positivity issues are not present. For operators that break the constraint, we explore the addition of Pauli factors to recover $N$-representability. This work promotes feasible applications of novel microscopic master equations for realistic chemical systems.

We develop a feature-based framework to anticipate Forbush decreases in one-minute neutron-monitor records by tracking sliding-window invariants from information theory, scaling, and geometry. For each station we compute marker time series, including Shannon, spectral, approximate and sample entropy; Lempel-Ziv complexity; correlation dimension; and Higuchi and Katz fractal dimensions. Markers are smoothed with an exponentially weighted moving average and analyzed through within-station standardized first differences. Timing is referenced to an operational alignment time defined as the minimum of the smoothed count first difference, and marker leads are reported in minutes (negative values indicate anticipation). Station-level detectability is evaluated on a pre-alignment window using a robust z-score detector with bilateral threshold and persistence, without cross-correlation or hypothesis testing. We apply the pipeline to two FD episodes with broad station coverage (2023-04-23 and 2024-05-10; 28 stations each). Across events, a compact CORE panel shows consistently high detection rates and predominantly anticipatory lead distributions, with typical median leads on the order of several hours depending on the invariant and event. Lead dispersion across stations is substantial, with interquartile ranges commonly spanning a few hours, highlighting the need for station-wise criteria and distributional summaries rather than single-station inference. Representative marker trajectories confirm that early flagging corresponds to sustained pre-alignment excursions in marker differences, not tabulation artifacts. The approach is reproducible from open code, operates on native station units without cross-station homogenization, and remains qualitatively stable under sensitivity sweeps of windowing, smoothing, and detector parameters.

Characterization of entropy functions is of fundamental importance in information theory. By imposing constraints on their Shannon outer bound, i.e., the polymatroidal region, one obtains the faces of the region and entropy functions on them with special structures. In this series of two papers, we characterize entropy functions on the $2$-dimensional faces of the polymatroidal region $Γ_4$. In Part I, we formulated the problem, enumerated all $59$ types of $2$-dimensional faces of $Γ_4$ by a algorithm, and fully characterized entropy functions on $49$ types of them. In this paper, i.e., Part II, we will characterize entropy functions on the remaining $10$ types of faces, among which $8$ types are fully characterized and $2$ types are partially characterized. To characterize these types of faces, we introduce some new combinatorial design structures which are interesting in themselves.

The circumgalactic medium (CGM) is host to gas flows into and out of galaxies and regulates galaxy growth, but the multiphase, diffuse gas in this region is challenging to observe. We investigate the properties of gas giving rise to O VI emission from the CGM that upcoming missions, such as the Aspera SmallSat, will be able to map in local galaxies. We use the FOGGIE simulations to predict the O VI emission from edge-on galaxies across the redshift range $z=1\rightarrow0$. O VI emission is brightest surrounding small, clumpy structures near the galaxy where the gas density is high. Most of the O VI surface brightness originates from collisionally ionized, $T\sim10^{5.5}$ K, inflowing gas and is not preferentially aligned with the major or minor axis of the galaxy disk. Simulated galaxies with higher halo masses, higher median CGM gas density, and higher star formation rates produce brighter and more widespread O VI emission in their CGM. We show that while O VI emission primarily originates in inflowing gas, turning off outflows in a simulation without star formation feedback eliminates most of the O VI emission. Enrichment from feedback is necessary to mix with the inflowing gas and allow it to glow in O VI. Collectively, our findings point towards a picture where O VI emission traces warm, ionized envelopes of cooler clouds that are accreting onto the galaxy in a metal-enriched galactic fountain. Finally, we show that the detection limit of Aspera is sufficient to detect O VI emission tens of kpc from the galaxy center for $\sim L^\star$ galaxies.

We assess the performance of EUCLID, Efficient Unsupervised Constitutive Law Identification and Discovery, a recently proposed framework for automated discovery of constitutive laws, on experimental data. Mechanical tests are performed on natural rubber specimens spanning simple to complex geometries, from which we collect both global, force elongation, and local, full-field displacement, measurements. Using these data, we obtain constitutive laws via two routes, the conventional identification of unknown parameters in a priori selected material models, and EUCLID, which automates model selection and parameter identification within a unified model-discovery pipeline. We compare the two methodologies using global versus local data, analyze predictive accuracy, and examine generalization to unseen geometries. Moreover, we quantify the experimental noise, investigate the coverage of the material state space achieved by each approach and discuss the relative performance of different datasets and different a priori chosen models versus EUCLID.

The dynamics of charged particles around magnetized black holes provide valuable insights into astrophysical processes near compact objects. In this work, we investigate the bound and unbound trajectories of charged particles in the vicinity of a Schwarzschild black hole immersed in an external, uniform magnetic field. By analyzing the effective potential and solving the corresponding equations of motion, we classify the possible orbital configurations and identify the critical parameters governing the transition between stable and escape trajectories. The influence of the magnetic field strength and particle charge on the orbital structure, energy, and angular momentum is systematically explored. Applications of the obtained results are discussed in the context of the S2 star orbiting Sagittarius A* and the motion of bright hotspots detected near the event horizon, offering a potential interpretation of recent observations in terms of magnetized dynamics. The study contributes to a deeper understanding of charged-particle motion around black holes and its relevance to high-energy astrophysical phenomena in the galactic center. Finally, we test our model by fitting it to real data from the observed trajectory of the S2 star using a statistical Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) method. This allows us to find the best estimates for magnetic field and charge of the S2 star.

Encoding combinatorial optimization problems into physically meaningful Hamiltonians with tractable energy landscapes forms the foundation of quantum optimization. Numerous works have studied such efficient encodings for the class of Quadratic Unconstrained Binary Optimization (QUBO) problems. However, many real-world tasks are constrained, and handling equality and, in particular, inequality constraints on quantum computers remains a major challenge. In this letter, we show that including inequality constraints is equivalent to solving a multi-objective optimization. This insight motivates the Multi-Objective Quantum Approximation (MOQA) framework, which approximates the maximum via smaller $p$-norms and comes with rigorous performance guarantees. MOQA operates directly at the Hamiltonian level and is compatible with, but not restricted to, ground-state solvers such as quantum adiabatic annealing, the Quantum Approximate Optimization Algorithm (QAOA), or imaginary-time evolution. Moreover, it is not limited to quadratic functions.

Service Level Agreement (SLA) monitoring in service-oriented environments suffers from inherent trust conflicts when providers self-report metrics, creating incentives to underreport violations. We introduce a framework for generating verifiable SLA violation claims through trusted hardware monitors and zero-knowledge proofs, establishing cryptographic foundations for genuine trustworthiness in service ecosystems. Our approach starts with machine-readable SLA clauses converted into verifiable predicates and monitored within Trusted Execution Environments. These monitors collect timestamped telemetry, organize measurements into Merkle trees, and produce signed attestations. Zero-knowledge proofs aggregate Service-Level Indicators to evaluate compliance, generating cryptographic proofs verifiable by stakeholders, arbitrators, or insurers in disputes, without accessing underlying data. This ensures three security properties: integrity, authenticity, and validity. Our prototype demonstrates linear scaling up to over 1 million events per hour for measurements with near constant-time proof generation and verification for single violation claims, enabling trustless SLA enforcement through cryptographic guarantees for automated compliance verification in service monitoring.

In length-constrained minimum spanning tree (MST) we are given an $n$-node graph $G = (V,E)$ with edge weights $w : E \to \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ and edge lengths $l: E \to \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$ along with a root node $r \in V$ and a length-constraint $h \in \mathbb{Z}_{\geq 0}$. Our goal is to output a spanning tree of minimum weight according to $w$ in which every node is at distance at most $h$ from $r$ according to $l$. We give a polynomial-time algorithm for planar graphs which, for any constant $ε> 0$, outputs an $O\left(\log^{1+ε} n\right)$-approximate solution with every node at distance at most $(1+ε)h$ from $r$ for any constant $ε> 0$. Our algorithm is based on new length-constrained versions of classic planar separators which may be of independent interest. Additionally, our algorithm works for length-constrained Steiner tree. Complementing this, we show that any algorithm on general graphs for length-constrained MST in which nodes are at most $2h$ from $r$ cannot achieve an approximation of $O\left(\log ^{2-ε} n\right)$ for any constant $ε> 0$ under standard complexity assumptions; as such, our results separate the approximability of length-constrained MST in planar and general graphs.

Quantum optimal control is central to designing spin manipulation pulses. Gradient-based pulse optimization can be facilitated by either accelerating gradient evaluation or enhancing the convergence rate. In this work, we accelerated single-spin optimal control by combining the finite element method with the method of moving asymptotes. By treating discretized time as spatial coordinates, the Liouville - von Neumann equation was reformulated as a linear system, efficiently yielding a joint solution of the spin trajectory and control gradient. The method of moving asymptotes, relying on the ensemble fidelities and gradients, achieves rapid convergence for a target fidelity of 0.995.

We study the two-dimensional $t$--$J$ model at finite temperature directly in the thermodynamic limit using purification represented by an infinite projected entangled-pair state (iPEPS). We reach temperatures down to $T/t=0.1$ and hole concentrations up to $1-n\simeq0.25$, and provide benchmark thermodynamic-limit results for the specific heat, uniform susceptibility, and charge compressibility. We identify a susceptibility maximum $T^\ast$ that tracks the buildup of short-range antiferromagnetism and a shallow compressibility enhancement upon cooling in the same doping window. To expose the underlying microscopic mechanism, we introduce dopant-conditioned multi-point correlators that quantify how holes reorganize nearby exchange: single holes weaken adjacent antiferromagnetic bonds, while nearest-neighbor hole pairs produce a cooperative response that reinforces antiferromagnetism on the parallel plaquette edge. Over the same parameter window, $d$-wave pairing correlations remain short-ranged. These results provide experiment-compatible thermodynamic-limit benchmarks and establish dopant-conditioned correlators as incisive probes of finite-temperature spin-texture reorganization in doped Mott insulators.

We studied the dynamics of a pair of single-electron double quantum dots (DQD) under longitudinal and transverse static magnetic fields and time-dependent harmonic modulation of their interaction couplings. We propose to modulate the tunnel coupling between the QDs to produce one-qubit gates and the exchange coupling between DQDs to generate entangling gates, the set of operations required for quantum computing. We developed analytical approximations to set the conditions to control the qubits and applied them to numerical calculations to test the accuracy and robustness of the analytical model. The results shows that the unitary evolution of the two-electron state performs the designed operations even under conditions shifted from the ideal ones.

Cross-correlating neutral hydrogen (HI) 21cm intensity mapping with galaxy surveys provides an effective probe of astrophysical and cosmological information. This work presents a cross-correlation analysis between MeerKAT single-dish HI intensity mapping and Chinese Space Station Survey Telescope (CSST) spectroscopic galaxy surveys in $z=0.4\sim1.2$, which will share a survey area of several thousand square degrees. Utilizing Jiutian-1G cosmological simulation, we simulate the observational data of MeerKAT and CSST with survey areas from $\sim1600$ to $600$ deg$^2$ at $z=0.5$, 0.7, and 1. The effects of beam pattern, polarization leakage, and different foregrounds in the MeerKAT HI intensity mapping are considered in the simulation. After employing foreground removal with the principal component analysis (PCA) method and performing signal compensation, we derive the cross-power spectra of MeerKAT and CSST. We perform the joint constraint using the CSST galaxy auto-power spectra and MeerKAT-CSST cross-power spectra with the least-squares fitting method. The constraint results show that, in the simulated survey area, the relative accuracy can achieve $6\%\sim 8\%$ for the parameter products $Ω_{\rm HI}b_{\rm HI}b_{g}r_{\mathrm{HI},g}$ and $Ω_{\rm HI}b_{\rm HI}r_{\mathrm{HI},g}$ at the three redshifts, which is $3\sim4$ times smaller than the current result. These findings indicate that the full MeerKAT-CSST joint observation with thousands of square degrees overlapping survey area can be a powerful probe of large-scale structure, and has the ability to provide information of cosmic evolution of HI and galaxies in a wide redshift range.

Purpose: Accurate prediction of beam delivery time (BDT) is essential for operational efficiency, 4D dose calculations, and advanced proton therapy techniques. Despite its importance, no machine-specific BDT model exists for Mevion systems. Methods: We developed the first machine learning-based BDT model for the Mevion S250i Hyperscan system. Institutional machine log files from 11 patients (1120 files) were used to extract features including spot position, energy layer changes, Adaptive Aperture (AA) movements, and spot charge. Inter-pulse time ($Δ$T) was the target variable. A Random Forest model was trained with cross-validation and tested on held-out data. SHAP (Shapley Additive Explanations) analysis was used to quantify feature contributions. Results: The model achieved mean absolute errors (MAE) ranging from 0.9 ms for short intervals (<50 ms) to 222 ms for long delays (>1000 ms). AA movements were the dominant global predictor for $Δ$T > 50 ms, while spot positions and pulse charge influenced short intervals. Energy changes had minor global impact but locally contributed to large $Δ$T values, consistent with range modulator physics. The model was tested in two clinical applications: volumetric repainting and 4D dose recalculation for interplay evaluation. Predicted cumulative delivery times deviated by only -1.7% from machine log data, and dosimetric metrics (D98, D95, V95) remained within intrinsic delivery variability. Conclusions: This study presents the first machine-specific BDT model for the Mevion S250i, accurately capturing temporal dynamics and predictive performance. SHAP analysis provided insight into system behavior, highlighting the roles of AA adjustments, energy switching, and spot positioning. The model supports applications in interplay assessment, 4D dose calculation, and delivery time-based plan optimization.

Inertial waves transport energy and momentum in rotating fluids and are a major contributor to mixing and tidal dissipation in Earth's oceans, gaseous planets, and stellar interiors. However, their stability and breakdown mechanisms are not fully understood. We examine the linear stability and nonlinear breakdown of finite-amplitude propagating plane inertial waves using Floquet theory and direct numerical simulations. The Floquet analysis generalizes previous studies as it is valid for arbitrary perturbation wavelengths and primary wave amplitudes. We find that the wavenumber orientation of the most unstable perturbations depends strongly on the wave frequency and weakly on the wave amplitude. The most unstable perturbations have wavelengths that are small relative to the primary wave wavelength for low wave amplitudes, but become comparable for large wave amplitudes. We then use direct numerical simulations to follow the nonlinear breakdown of the wave and examine how the wave energy is either dissipated in a forward cascade or accumulated into long-lived geostrophic modes. Simulations reveal that the conversion efficiency into geostrophic modes increases with increasing wave amplitude, as expected for pumping of geostrophic modes by nearly-resonant triadic interactions. We also find that the conversion efficiency increases with decreasing primary wave frequency, which may be due to the more efficient coupling of quasi-2D waves to geostrophic modes. These results on the stability and breakdown of single plane inertial waves provides additional foundation for understanding the role of inertial waves in rotating turbulence, transport properties of inertial wave beams, and inertial wave propagation in more complex environments such as those with magnetic fields or shear flows.

We develop a localized particle detector model formulated as a massive quantum field on Minkowski spacetime with the spatial origin excised. To render the problem well-posed at the puncture, we impose boundary conditions at the excised point, which we take to be of Robin type. This setup yields a discrete sector, given by bound-state solutions of the radial equation with real, positive frequencies, which characterizes the detector. We construct the full two-point function and show its decomposition into: (i) the discrete radial bound-state sector, (ii) the boundary condition modified continuous sector, and (iii) the unmodified Dirichlet sector. We then compute the detector field's stress-energy tensor and prove its covariant conservation. For the specific localized modes in this setup, the discrete-sector contribution cancels in the complete stress-energy tensor, leaving only boundary-condition induced terms. Notably, the discrete modes crucial to localized field-based detectors emerge naturally from the boundary conditions, without ad hoc confining potentials, providing a fully relativistic framework that extends the traditional Unruh-DeWitt paradigm. This mechanism is not restricted to Minkowski spacetime: the same construction can be applied to massive fields on backgrounds with naked singularities, such as conical and global monopole spacetimes, offering a unified route to detector localization in a broad class of geometries.

The gravity-driven discharge of granular material through an aperture is a fundamental problem in granular physics and is classically described by empirical laws with different fitting parameters. In this Letter, we disentangle the mass flux into distinct velocity and packing contributions by combining three-dimensional experiments and simulations. We define a dimensionless flux ratio that captures confinement-driven deviations from a free-fall limit, which is recovered when the aperture is large compared to the grain size. For spherical cohesionless grains, the deviations from the free-fall limit are captured by a single exponential correction factor over a characteristic length scale of $\sim$ 10-15 grain diameters. This is shown to be the scale over which the packing structure is modified due to the boundary. Building on the $\sqrt{gD}$ exit-velocity scaling, we propose a kinematic framework that explains the universality of granular discharge beyond empirical descriptions.

We reconsider primordial black hole physics in Randall-Sundrum Type-II universes, focusing on constraints from cosmological and astrophysical observables. We pay particular attention to scenarios that allow the entirety of dark matter to be in the form of higher-dimensional primordial black holes. This is possible for a range of AdS radii and black hole masses. Observable constraints are generally modified due to the changes in the higher-dimensional gravitational sector, and come from low-energy $e^{\pm}$ emission, microlensing, and possibly from contributions to unresolved radiation backgrounds. We discuss constraints from the cosmic microwave background due to injection of Hawking quanta into the intergalactic medium. Finally, we comment on recent discussions on the compatibility of higher-dimensional black holes and the KM3-230213A event.

2D nesting problems rank among the most challenging cutting and packing problems. Yet, despite their practical relevance, research over the past decade has seen remarkably little progress. One reasonable explanation could be that nesting problems are already solved to near optimality, leaving little room for improvement. However, as our paper demonstrates, we are not at the limit after all. This paper presents $\texttt{sparrow}$, an open-source heuristic approach to solving 2D irregular strip packing problems, along with ten new real-world instances for benchmarking. Our approach decomposes the optimization problem into a sequence of feasibility problems, where collisions between items are gradually resolved. $\texttt{sparrow}$ consistently outperforms the state of the art - in some cases by an unexpectedly wide margin. We are therefore convinced that the aforementioned stagnation is better explained by both a high barrier to entry and a widespread lack of reproducibility. By releasing $\texttt{sparrow}$'s source code, we directly address both issues. At the same time, we are confident there remains significant room for further algorithmic improvement. The ultimate aim of this paper is not only to take a single step forward, but to reboot the research culture in the domain and enable continued, reproducible progress.

A completely regular Hausdorff space $X$ is called a $WCF$-space if every pair of disjoint cozero-sets in $X$ can be separated by two disjoint $Z^{\circ}$-sets. The class of $WCF$-spaces properly contains both the class of $F$-spaces and the class of cozero-complemented spaces. We prove that if $Y$ is a dense $z$-embedded subset of a space $X$, then $Y$ is a $WCF$-space if and only if $X$ is a $WCF$-space. As a consequence, a completely regular Hausdorff space $X$ is a $WCF$-space if and only if $βX$ is a $WCF$-space if and only if $\upsilon X$ is a $WCF$-space. We then apply this concept to introduce the notions of $PW$-rings and $UPW$-rings. A ring $R$ is called a $PW$-ring (resp., $UPW$-ring) if for all $a, b \in R$ with $aR \cap bR = 0$, the ideal $\Ann(a)+\Ann(b)$ contains a regular element (resp., a unit element). It is shown that $C(X)$ is a $PW$-ring if and only if $X$ is a $WCF$-space, if and only if $C^{*}(X)$ is a $PW$-ring. Moreover, for a reduced $f$-ring $R$ with bounded inversion, we prove that the lattice $BZ^{\circ}(R)$ is co-normal if and only if $R$ is a $PW$-ring. Several examples are provided to illustrate and delimit our results.