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  1. Coherent Transfer of Lattice Entropy via Extreme Nonlinear Phononics in Metal Halide Perovskites

    Entropy transfer in metal halide perovskites, characterized by significant lattice anharmonicity and low stiffness, underlies the remarkable properties observed in their optoelectronic applications, ranging from solar cells to lasers. The conventional view of this transfer involves stochastic processes occurring within a thermal bath of phonons, where the lattice arrangement and energy flow from higher- to lower-frequency modes. Here, we unveil a comprehensive chronological sequence detailing a conceptually distinct coherent transfer of entropy in a prototypical perovskite CH 3 NH 3 Pbl 3 . The terahertz periodic modulation imposesmore » vibrational coherence into electronic states, leading to the emergence of mixed (vibronic) quantum beat between approximately 3 and 0.3 THz. We highlight a well-structured bidirectional time-frequency transfer of these diverse phonon modes, each developing at different times and transitioning from high to low frequencies from 3 to 0.3 THz, before reversing direction and ascending to around 0.8 THz. First-principles molecular dynamics simulations disentangle a complex web of coherent-phononic coupling pathways and identify the salient roles of the initial modes in shaping entropy evolution at later stages. Capitalizing on coherent entropy transfer and dynamic anharmonicity presents a compelling opportunity to exceed the fundamental thermodynamic (Shockley-Queisser) limit of photoconversion efficiency and to pioneer novel optoelectronic functionalities. Published by the American Physical Society 2024« less
  2. Quantum Liouville theorem based on Haar measure

    Liouville theorem (L theorem) reveals robust incompressibility of the distribution function in phase space, given arbitrary potentials. However, its quantum generalization, Wigner flow, is compressible, i.e., L theorem is only conditionally true (e.g., for perfect Harmonic potential). Here, we develop quantum L theorem (rigorous incompressibility) for arbitrary potentials (interacting or not) in Hamiltonians. Haar measure, instead of symplectic measure dp$$\bigwedge$$dq used in Wigner’s scheme, plays a central role. The argument is based on general measure theory, independent of specific spaces or coordinates. Comparison of classical and quantum is made: for instance, here we address why Haar measure and metric preservationmore » do not work in the classical case. Applications of the theorems in statistics, topological phase transition, ergodic theory, etc., are discussed.« less
  3. Extreme terahertz magnon multiplication induced by resonant magnetic pulse pairs

    Nonlinear interactions of spin-waves and their quanta, magnons, have emerged as prominent candidates for interference-based technology, ranging from quantum transduction to antiferromagnetic spintronics. Yet magnon multiplication in the terahertz (THz) spectral region represents a major challenge. Intense, resonant magnetic fields from THz pulse-pairs with controllable phases and amplitudes enable high order THz magnon multiplication, distinct from non-resonant nonlinearities such as the high harmonic generation by below-band gap electric fields. Here, we demonstrate exceptionally high-order THz nonlinear magnonics. It manifests as 7th-order spin-wave-mixing and 6th harmonic magnon generation in an antiferromagnetic orthoferrite. We use THz two-dimensional coherent spectroscopy to achieve high-sensitivity detectionmore » of nonlinear magnon interactions up to six-magnon quanta in strongly-driven many-magnon correlated states. The high-order magnon multiplication, supported by classical and quantum spin simulations, elucidates the significance of four-fold magnetic anisotropy and Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya symmetry breaking. Moreover, our results shed light on the potential quantum fluctuation properties inherent in nonlinear magnons.« less
  4. Constraints on the Cosmic Expansion History from GWTC–3

    We use 47 gravitational wave sources from the Third LIGO–Virgo–Kamioka Gravitational Wave Detector Gravitational Wave Transient Catalog (GWTC–3) to estimate the Hubble parameter H(z), including its current value, the Hubble constant H0. Each gravitational wave (GW) signal provides the luminosity distance to the source, and we estimate the corresponding redshift using two methods: the redshifted masses and a galaxy catalog. Using the binary black hole (BBH) redshifted masses, we simultaneously infer the source mass distribution and H(z). The source mass distribution displays a peak around 34 M, followed by a drop-off. Assuming this mass scale does not evolve with themore » redshift results in a H(z) measurement, yielding H0 = $68$$$$^{+12}_{–8}$$km s–1 Mpc–1 (68% credible interval) when combined with the H0 measurement from GW170817 and its electromagnetic counterpart. This represents an improvement of 17% with respect to the H0 estimate from GWTC–1. The second method associates each GW event with its probable host galaxy in the catalog GLADE+, statistically marginalizing over the redshifts of each event's potential hosts. Assuming a fixed BBH population, we estimate a value of H0 = $68$$$$^{+8}_{–6}$$km s–1 Mpc–1 with the galaxy catalog method, an improvement of 42% with respect to our GWTC–1 result and 20% with respect to recent H0 studies using GWTC–2 events. However, we show that this result is strongly impacted by assumptions about the BBH source mass distribution; the only event which is not strongly impacted by such assumptions (and is thus informative about H0) is the well-localized event GW190814.« less
  5. Ultrafast Martensitic Phase Transition Driven by Intense Terahertz Pulses

    We report on an ultrafast nonequilibrium phase transition with a strikingly long-lived martensitic anomaly driven by above-threshold single-cycle terahertz pulses with a peak field of more than 1 MV/cm. A nonthermal, terahertz-induced depletion of low-frequency conductivity in Nb3Sn indicates increased gap splitting of high-energy 12 bands by removal of their degeneracies, which induces the martensitic phase above their equilibrium transition temperature. In contrast, optical pumping leads to a Γ12 gap thermal melting. Such light-induced nonequilibrium martensitic phase exhibits a substantially enhanced critical temperature up to ~100 K, i.e., more than twice the equilibrium temperature, and can be stabilized beyond technologicallymore » relevant, nanosecond time scales. Together with first-principle simulations, we identify a compelling terahertz tuning mechanism of structural order via Γ12 phonons to achieve the ultrafast phase transition to a metastable electronic state out of equilibrium at high temperatures far exceeding those for equilibrium states.« less
  6. Population of Merging Compact Binaries Inferred Using Gravitational Waves through GWTC-3

    We report on the population properties of compact binary mergers inferred from gravitational-wave observations of these systems during the first three LIGO-Virgo observing runs. The Gravitational-Wave Transient Catalog 3 (GWTC-3) contains signals consistent with three classes of binary mergers: binary black hole, binary neutron star, and neutron star–black hole mergers. We infer the binary neutron star merger rate to be between 10 and 1700 Gpc 3 yr 1 and the neutron star–black hole merger rate to be between 7.8more » and 140 Gpc 3 yr 1 , assuming a constant rate density in the comoving frame and taking the union of 90% credible intervals for methods used in this work. We infer the binary black hole merger rate, allowing for evolution with redshift, to be between 17.9 and 44 Gpc 3 yr 1 at a fiducial redshift ( z = 0.2 ). The rate of binary black hole mergers is observed to increase with redshift at a rate proportional to ( 1 + z ) κ with κ = 2. 9 1.8 + 1.7 for z 1 . Using both binary neutron star and neutron star–black hole binaries, we obtain a broad, relatively flat neutron star mass distribution extending from 1.2 0.2 + 0.1 to 2.0 0.3 + 0.3 M . We confidently determine that the merger rate as a function of mass sharply declines after the expected maximum neutron star mass, but cannot yet confirm or rule out the existence of a lower mass gap between neutron stars and black holes. We also find the binary black hole mass distribution has localized over- and underdensities relative to a power-law distribution, with peaks emerging at chirp masses of 8.3 0.5 + 0.3 and 27.9 1.8 + 1.9 M . While we continue to find that the mass distribution of a binary’s more massive component strongly decreases as a function of primary mass, we observe no evidence of a strongly suppressed merger rate above approximately 60 M , which would indicate the presence of a upper mass gap. Observed black hole spins are small, with half of spin magnitudes below χ i 0.25 . While the majority of spins are preferentially aligned with the orbital angular momentum, we infer evidence of antialigned spins among the binary population. We observe an increase in spin magnitude for systems with more unequal-mass ratio. We also observe evidence of misalignment of spins relative to the orbital angular momentum. Published by the American Physical Society 2023« less
  7. Quantum coherence tomography of light-controlled superconductivity

    The coupling between superconductors and oscillation cycles of light pulses, i.e., lightwave engineering, is an emerging control concept for superconducting quantum electronics. Although progress has been made towards terahertz-driven superconductivity and supercurrents, the interactions able to drive non-equilibrium pairing are still poorly understood, partially due to the lack of measurements of high-order correlation functions. In particular, the sensing of exotic collective modes that would uniquely characterize light-driven superconducting coherence, in a way analogous to the Meissner effect, is very challenging but much needed. Here we report the discovery of parametrically driven superconductivity by light-induced order-parameter collective oscillations in iron-based superconductors.more » The time-periodic relative phase dynamics between the coupled electron and hole bands drives the transition to a distinct parametric superconducting state out-of-equalibrium. This light-induced emergent coherence is characterized by a unique phase–amplitude collective mode with Floquet-like sidebands at twice the Higgs frequency. We measure non-perturbative, high-order correlations of this parametrically driven superconductivity by separating the terahertz-frequency multidimensional coherent spectra into pump–probe, Higgs mode and bi-Higgs frequency sideband peaks. We find that the higher-order bi-Higgs sidebands dominate above the critical field, which indicates the breakdown of susceptibility perturbative expansion in this parametric quantum matter.« less
  8. Model-based Cross-correlation Search for Gravitational Waves from the Low-mass X-Ray Binary Scorpius X-1 in LIGO O3 Data

    We present the results of a model-based search for continuous gravitational waves from the low-mass X-ray binary Scorpius X-1 using LIGO detector data from the third observing run of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo. This is a semicoherent search that uses details of the signal model to coherently combine data separated by less than a specified coherence time, which can be adjusted to balance sensitivity with computing cost. The search covered a range of gravitational-wave frequencies from 25 to 1600 Hz, as well as ranges in orbital speed, frequency, and phase determined from observational constraints. No significant detection candidates weremore » found, and upper limits were set as a function of frequency. The most stringent limits, between 100 and 200 Hz, correspond to an amplitude h $$_{0}$$ of about 10$$^{−25}$$ when marginalized isotropically over the unknown inclination angle of the neutron star’s rotation axis, or less than 4 × 10$$^{−26}$$ assuming the optimal orientation. The sensitivity of this search is now probing amplitudes predicted by models of torque balance equilibrium. For the usual conservative model assuming accretion at the surface of the neutron star, our isotropically marginalized upper limits are close to the predicted amplitude from about 70 to 100 Hz; the limits assuming that the neutron star spin is aligned with the most likely orbital angular momentum are below the conservative torque balance predictions from 40 to 200 Hz. Assuming a broader range of accretion models, our direct limits on gravitational-wave amplitude delve into the relevant parameter space over a wide range of frequencies, to 500 Hz or more.« less
  9. All-sky search for continuous gravitational waves from isolated neutron stars using Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo O3 data

    We present results of an all-sky search for continuous gravitational waves which can be produced by spinning neutron stars with an asymmetry around their rotation axis, using data from the third observing run of the Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo detectors. Four different analysis methods are used to search in a gravitational-wave frequency band from 10 to 2048 Hz and a first frequency derivative from -10-8 to 10-9 Hz/s. No statistically significant periodic gravitational-wave signal is observed by any of the four searches. As a result, upper limits on the gravitational-wave strain amplitude ℎ0 are calculated. The best upper limitsmore » are obtained in the frequency range of 100 to 200 Hz and they are ~1.1 ×10-25 at 95% confidence level. The minimum upper limit of 1.10 ×10-25 is achieved at a frequency 111.5 Hz. In conclusion, we also place constraints on the rates and abundances of nearby planetary- and asteroid-mass primordial black holes that could give rise to continuous gravitational-wave signals.« less
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