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Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

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At least 199 records · Page 11

Searching for MeV-mass neutrinophilic dark matter with large scale dark matter detectors

The indirect detection of dark matter (DM) through its annihilation products is one of the primary strategies for DM detection. One of the least constrained classes of models is neutrinophilic DM, because the annihilation products, weakly interacting neutrinos, are challenging to observe. Here, we consider a scenario where MeV-mass DM exclusively annihilates to the third neutrino mass eigenstate, which is predominantly of tau and muon flavor. In such a scenario, the potential detection rate of the neutrinos originating from the DM annihilation in our Galaxy in the conventional detectors would be suppressed by up to approximately two orders of magnitude. This is because the best sensitivity of such detectors for neutrinos with energies below approximately 100 MeV is for electron neutrino flavor. In this work, we highlight the potential of large-scale DM detectors in uncovering such signals in the tens of MeV range of DM masses. In addition, we discuss how coincident signals in direct detection DM experiments and upcoming neutrino detectors such as DUNE, Hyper-Kamiokande, and JUNO could provide new perspectives on the DM problem. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Does the Z boson have a lighter cousin?

In the quenched electroweak theory on the lattice I construct a set of physical states which overlap the physical photon and Z boson states. This is done by employing eigenstates of the covariant lattice Laplacian, in addition to the Higgs and lattice link variables, to construct gauge invariant vector boson creation operators. Diagonalizing the transfer matrix in the subspace of Hilbert space spanned by this set yields a massless photon and massive Z particle, as expected. But in the numerical data there is evidence for more vector bosons in the spectrum, albeit with considerable uncertainty in their masses, with the lowest finite mass particle in the range of 3–4 GeV. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Greensite, Jeff (ORCID:0000000317209436)↗

Intrinsic charm and the 𝐷 + − 𝐷 − asymmetry produced in proton-proton collisions

We investigate the contribution of the charm-anticharm (𝑐⁢$\overline{𝑐}$) asymmetry of the proton eigenstate obtained from QCD lattice gauge to the asymmetry of 𝐷 + , 𝐷 − and 𝐷 0 , $\overline{𝐷}$ 0 mesons produced in 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions at large Feynman variables 𝑥. It is shown that an important tool for establishing the intrinsic charm (IC) content of the proton is the charm hadron-antihadron asymmetry formed in 𝑝⁢𝑝 collisions. Predictions for the asymmetry as a function of 𝑥 for different IC probabilities are presented. We show that the interference of the intrinsic |𝑢⁢𝑢⁢𝑑⁢𝑐⁢$\overline{𝑐}$⟩ Fock state with the standard contribution from the perturbative QCD evolution leads to a large 𝐷 + ⁢𝐷 − asymmetry at large Feynman 𝑥.

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Efficient state preparation for the Schwinger model with a theta term

We present a comparison of different quantum state preparation algorithms and their overall efficiency for the Schwinger model with a theta term. While adiabatic state preparation is proved to be effective, in practice it leads to large gate counts to prepare the ground state. The quantum approximate optimization algorithm (QAOA) provides excellent results while keeping the counts small by design, at the cost of an expensive classical minimization process. We introduce a “blocked” modification of the Schwinger Hamiltonian to be used in the QAOA that further decreases the length of the algorithms as the size of the problem is increased. The rodeo algorithm (RA) provides a powerful tool to efficiently prepare any eigenstate of the Hamiltonian, as long as its overlap with the initial guess is large enough. We obtain the best results when combining the blocked QAOA ansatz and the RA, as this provides an excellent initial state with a relatively short algorithm without the need to perform any classical steps for large problem sizes. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Bazavov, Alexei (ORCID:0000000321411901)↗

Basis light-front quantization for the Λ b and Σ b baryons

Within the basis light-front quantization framework, we compute the masses and light-front wave functions of the Λ b baryon and its isospin triplet counterparts Σ b + , Σ b 0 , and Σ b − using a light-front effective Hamiltonian in the leading Fock sector. These wave functions are obtained as eigenstates of the effective Hamiltonian, which incorporates the one-gluon exchange interaction with fixed coupling and a three-dimensional confinement potential. With the quark masses and the couplings as adjustable parameters, the computed masses are set within the experimental range. The resulting predictions for their electromagnetic properties align well with other theoretical calculations. Additionally, the parton distribution functions (PDFs) of these baryons are obtained for the first time, with gluon and sea quark distributions dynamically generated through QCD evolution of the valence quark PDFs. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

Meng, Lingdi (ORCID:0009000096439904)↗

Individual neutrino masses from a supernova

A nearby supernova will carry an unprecedented wealth of information about astrophysics, nuclear physics, and particle physics. Because supernova are fundamentally neutrino driven phenomenon, our knowledge about neutrinos—particles that remain quite elusive—will increase dramatically with such a detection. One of the biggest open questions in particle physics is related to the masses of neutrinos. Here, we show how a galactic supernova provides information about the masses of each of the three mass eigenstates , at some precision, and is well probed at JUNO. This information comes from several effects including time delay and the Mikheyev-Smirnov-Wolfenstein effect within the supernova. The time delay feature is strongest during a sharp change in the flux such as the neutronization burst; additional information may also come from a QCD phase transition in the supernova or if the supernova forms a black hole. We consider both standard cases as dictated by local oscillation experiments as well as new physics motivated scenarios where neutrino masses may differ across the galaxy. Published by the American Physical Society 2025

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

Semidefinite programming algorithm for the quantum mechanical bootstrap

Here, we present a semidefinite programming algorithm to find eigenvalues of Schrödinger operators within the bootstrap approach to quantum mechanics. The bootstrap approach involves two ingredients: a nonlinear set of constraints on the variables (expectation values of operators in an energy eigenstate), plus positivity constraints (unitarity) that need to be satisfied. By fixing the energy we linearize all the constraints and show that the feasibility problem can be presented as an optimization problem for the variables that are not fixed by the constraints and one additional slack variable that measures the failure of positivity. To illustrate the method we are able to obtain high-precision, sharp bounds on eigenenergies for arbitrary confining polynomial potentials in one dimension.

97 MATHEMATICS AND COMPUTING↗

Fluctuations in Extractable Work Bound the Charging Power of Quantum Batteries

We study the connection between the charging power of quantum batteries and the fluctuations of the extractable work. We prove that in order to have a non-zero rate of change of the extractable work, the state of the battery cannot be an eigenstate of a ‘free energy operator’, which characterizes the free energy of a system. We do so by proving that fluctuations in the free energy operator upper bound the charging power of a quantum battery. Our findings also suggest that quantum coherence in the battery enhances the charging process, which we illustrate on a toy model of a heat engine.

74 ATOMIC AND MOLECULAR PHYSICS↗

Effective Gaps Are Not Effective: Quasipolynomial Classical Simulation of Obstructed Stoquastic Hamiltonians

All known examples suggesting an exponential separation between classical simulation algorithms and stoquastic adiabatic quantum computing (StoqAQC) exploit symmetries that constrain adiabatic dynamics to effective, symmetric subspaces. The symmetries produce large effective eigenvalue gaps, which in turn make adiabatic computation efficient. We present a classical algorithm to subexponentially sample from an effective subspace of any k -local stoquastic Hamiltonian H , without a priori knowledge of its symmetries (or near symmetries). Our algorithm maps any k -local Hamiltonian to a graph G = ( V , E ) with | V | = O (poly (n)) , where n is the number of qubits. Given the well-known result of Babai [Graph isomorphism in quasipolynomial time, in Proceedings of the Forty-Eighth Annual ACM Symposium on Theory of Computing (2016), pp. 684–697], we exploit graph isomorphism to study the automorphisms of G and arrive at an algorithm quasipolynomial in | V | for producing samples from effective subspace eigenstates of H . Our results rule out exponential separations between StoqAQC and classical computation that arise from hidden symmetries in k -local Hamiltonians. Our graph representation of H is not limited to stoquastic Hamiltonians and may rule out corresponding obstructions in nonstoquastic cases, or be useful in studying additional properties of k -local Hamiltonians.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Nondispersing Wave Packets in Lattice Floquet Systems

We show that in a one-dimensional translationally invariant tight binding chain, nondispersing wave packets can in general be realized as Floquet eigenstates—or linear combinations thereof—using a spatially inhomogeneous drive, which can be as simple as modulation on a single site. The recurrence time of these wave packets (their “round-trip” time) locks in at rational ratios sT/r of the driving period T, where s, r are coprime integers. Wave packets of different s / r can coexist under the same drive, yet travel at different speeds. They retain their spatial compactness either infinitely (s/r = 1) or over a long time (s/r ≠ 1). Discrete time translation symmetry is manifestly broken for s ≠ 1, reminiscent of integer and fractional Floquet time crystals. We further demonstrate how to reverse engineer a drive protocol to reproduce a target Floquet micromotion, such as the free propagation of a wave packet, as if coming from a strictly linear energy spectrum. The variety of control schemes open up a new avenue for Floquet engineering in quantum information sciences.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Evaluating Energy Differences on a Quantum Computer with Robust Phase Estimation

Here, we adapt the robust phase estimation algorithm to the evaluation of energy differences between two eigenstates using a quantum computer. This approach does not require controlled unitaries between auxiliary and system registers or even a single auxiliary qubit. As a proof of concept, we calculate the energies of the ground state and low-lying electronic excitations of a hydrogen molecule in a minimal basis on a cloud quantum computer. The denominative robustness of our approach is then quantified in terms of a high tolerance to coherent errors in the state preparation and measurement. Conceptually, we note that all quantum phase estimation algorithms ultimately evaluate eigenvalue differences.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Topological Defect Engineering and $\mathcal{PT}$ Symmetry in Non-Hermitian Electrical Circuits

In this work, we employ electric circuit networks to study topological states of matter in non-Hermitian systems enriched by parity-time symmetry $\mathcal{PT}$ and chiral symmetry anti-$\mathcal{PT (APT)}$. The topological structure manifests itself in the complex admittance bands which yields excellent measurability and signal to noise ratio. We analyze the impact of $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric gain and loss on localized edge and defect states in a non-Hermitian Su-Schrieffer-Heeger (SSH) circuit. We realize all three symmetry phases of the system, including the $\mathcal{APT}$-symmetric regime that occurs at large gain and loss. We measure the admittance spectrum and eigenstates for arbitrary boundary conditions, which allows us to resolve not only topological edge states, but also a novel $\mathcal{PT}$-symmetric $\mathbb{Z}_2$ invariant of the bulk. We discover the distinct properties of topological edge states and defect states in the phase diagram. In the regime that is not $\mathcal{PT}$ symmetric, the topological defect state disappears and only reemerges when $\mathcal{APT}$ symmetry is reached, while the topological edge states always prevail and only experience a shift in eigenvalue. Our findings unveil a future route for topological defect engineering and tuning in non-Hermitian systems of arbitrary dimension.

75 CONDENSED MATTER PHYSICS, SUPERCONDUCTIVITY AND↗

Tuning between continuous time crystals and many-body scars in long-range XYZ spin chains.

Persistent oscillatory dynamics in nonequilibrium many-body systems is a tantalizing manifestation of ergodicity breakdown that continues to attract much attention. Recent works have focused on two classes of such systems: discrete time crystals and quantum many-body scars (QMBS). While both systems host oscillatory dynamics, its origin is expected to be fundamentally different: discrete time crystal is a phase of matter which spontaneously breaks the Z 2 symmetry of the external periodic drive, while QMBS span a subspace of nonthermalizing eigenstates forming an su(2) algebra representation. Here, we ask a basic question: is there a physical system that allows us to tune between these two dynamical phenomena? In contrast to much previous work, we investigate the possibility of a continuous time crystal (CTC) in undriven, energy-conserving systems exhibiting prethermalization. We introduce a long-range XYZ spin model and show that it encompasses both a CTC phase as well as QMBS. We map out the dynamical phase diagram using numerical simulations based on exact diagonalization and time-dependent variational principle in the thermodynamic limit. We identify a regime where QMBS and CTC order coexist, and we discuss experimental protocols that reveal their similarities as well as key differences.

Bull, Kieran↗

Lower Bounds on Quantum Annealing Times

The adiabatic theorem provides sufficient conditions for the time needed to prepare a target ground state. While it is possible to prepare a target state much faster with more general quantum annealing protocols, rigorous results beyond the adiabatic regime are rare. Here, we provide such a result, deriving lower bounds on the time needed to successfully perform quantum annealing. The bounds are asymptotically saturated by three toy models where fast annealing schedules are known: the Roland and Cerf unstructured search model, the Hamming spike problem, and the ferromagnetic p-spin model. Our bounds demonstrate that these schedules have optimal scaling. Herein, our results also show that rapid annealing requires coherent superpositions of energy eigenstates, singling out quantum coherence as a computational resource.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Learning Many-Body Hamiltonians with Heisenberg-Limited Scaling

Learning a many-body Hamiltonian from its dynamics is a fundamental problem in physics. Here, in this Letter, we propose the first algorithm to achieve the Heisenberg limit for learning an interacting N-qubit local Hamiltonian. After a total evolution time of $\mathscr{O}$⁡(ε –1 ), the proposed algorithm can efficiently estimate any parameter in the N-qubit Hamiltonian to ε error with high probability. Our algorithm uses ideas from quantum simulation to decouple the unknown N-qubit Hamiltonian H into noninteracting patches and learns H using a quantum-enhanced divide-and-conquer approach. The proposed algorithm is robust against state preparation and measurement error, does not require eigenstates or thermal states, and only uses polylog⁡(ε –1 ) experiments. In contrast, the best existing algorithms require $\mathscr{O}$⁡⁡(ε –2 ) experiments and total evolution time. We prove a matching lower bound to establish the asymptotic optimality of our algorithm.

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS, GENERAL PHYSIC↗

Floating Block Method for Quantum Monte Carlo Simulations

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations are powerful and versatile tools for the quantum many-body problem. In addition to the usual calculations of energies and eigenstate observables, quantum Monte Carlo simulations can in principle be used to build fast and accurate many-body emulators using eigenvector continuation or design time-dependent Hamiltonians for adiabatic quantum computing. Furthermore, these new applications require something that is missing from the published literature, an efficient quantum Monte Carlo scheme for computing the inner product of ground state eigenvectors corresponding to different Hamiltonians. In this work, we introduce an algorithm called the floating block method, which solves the problem by performing Euclidean time evolution with two different Hamiltonians and interleaving the corresponding time blocks. We use the floating block method and nuclear lattice simulations to build eigenvector continuation emulators for energies of 4 He, 8 Be, 12 C, and 16 O nuclei over a range of local and nonlocal interaction couplings. From the emulator data, we identify the quantum phase transition line from a Bose gas of alpha particles to a nuclear liquid.

73 NUCLEAR PHYSICS AND RADIATION PHYSICS↗

Improved Measurement of C P Violation Parameters in B s 0 → J / ψ K + K − Decays in the Vicinity of the ϕ ( 1020 ) Resonance

The decay-time-dependent C P asymmetry in B s 0 → J / ψ ( → μ + μ − ) K + K − decays is measured using proton-proton collision data, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 6 fb − 1 , collected with the LHCb detector at a center-of-mass energy of 13 TeV. Using a sample of approximately 349 000 B s 0 signal decays with an invariant K + K − mass in the vicinity of the ϕ ( 1020 ) resonance, the C P -violating phase ϕ s is measured, along with the difference in decay widths of the light and heavy mass eigenstates of the B s 0 − B ¯ s 0 system, Δ Γ s , and the difference of the average B s 0 and B 0 meson decay widths, Γ s − Γ d . The values obtained are ϕ s = − 0.039 ± 0.022 ± 0.006 rad , Δ Γ s = 0.0845 ± 0.0044 ± 0.0024 ps − 1 , and Γ s − Γ d = − 0.005 6 − 0.0015 + 0.0013 ± 0.0014 ps − 1 , where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic. These are the most precise single measurements to date and are consistent with expectations based on the Standard Model and with the previous LHCb analyses of this decay. These results are combined with previous independent LHCb measurements. The phase ϕ s is also measured independently for each polarization state of the K + K − system and shows no evidence for polarization dependence. © 2024 CERN, for the LHCb Collaboration 2024 CERN

72 PHYSICS OF ELEMENTARY PARTICLES AND FIELDS↗

Enhancement of vibrationally assisted energy transfer by proximity to exceptional points, probed by fluorescence-detected vibrational spectroscopy

Emulation of energy transfer processes in natural systems on quantum platforms can further our understanding of complex dynamics in nature. One notable example is the demonstration of vibrationally assisted energy transfer (VAET) on a trapped-ion quantum emulator, which offers insights for the energetics of light harvesting. In this work, we expand the study of VAET simulation with trapped ions to a non-Hermitian quantum system comprising a 𝒫⁢𝑇-symmetric chromophore dimer weakly coupled to a vibrational mode. We first characterize exceptional points (EPs) and non-Hermitian features of the excitation energy transfer processes in the absence of the vibration, finding a degenerate pair of second-order EPs. Exploring the non-Hermitian dynamics of the whole system including vibrations, we find that energy transfer accompanied by absorption of phonons from a vibrational mode can be significantly enhanced near such a degenerate EP. Our calculations reveal a unique spectral feature accompanying the coalescing of eigenstates and eigenenergies that provides a unique approach to probe the degenerate EP by fluorescence-detected vibrational spectroscopy. Enhancement of the VAET process near the EP is found to be due to maximal favorability of phonon absorption at the degenerate EP, enabling multiple simultaneous excitations. Our work on improving VAET processes in non-Hermitian quantum systems paves the way for leveraging non-Hermiticity in quantum dynamics related to excitation energy transfer.

Non-Hermitian systems↗