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1. Topological spin/structure couplings in layered chiral magnet Cr 1/3 TaS 2 : The discovery of spiral magnetic superstructure

   https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2023337118  

   Du, Kai ; Huang, Fei-Ting ; Kim, Jaewook ; Lim, Seong Joon ; Gamage, Kasun ; Yang, Junjie ; Mostovoy, Maxim ; Garlow, Joseph ; Han, Myung-Geun ; Zhu, Yimei ; et al ( September 2021 , Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)

   Chiral magnets have recently emerged as hosts for topological spin textures and related transport phenomena, which can find use in next-generation spintronic devices. The coupling between structural chirality and noncollinear magnetism is crucial for the stabilization of complex spin structures such as magnetic skyrmions. Most studies have been focused on the physical properties in homochiral states favored by crystal growth and the absence of long-ranged interactions between domains of opposite chirality. Therefore, effects of the high density of chiral domains and domain boundaries on magnetic states have been rarely explored so far. Herein, we report layered heterochiral Cr_1/3TaS₂, exhibiting numerous chiral domains forming topological defects and a nanometer-scale helimagnetic order interlocked with the structural chirality. Tuning the chiral domain density, we discovered a macroscopic topological magnetic texture inside each chiral domain that has an appearance of a spiral magnetic superstructure composed of quasiperiodic Néel domain walls. The spirality of this object can have either sign and is decoupled from the structural chirality. In weak, in-plane magnetic fields, it transforms into a nonspiral array of concentric ring domains. Numerical simulations suggest that this magnetic superstructure is stabilized by strains in the heterochiral state favoring noncollinear spins. Our results unveil topological structure/spin couplings in a wide range of different length scales and highly tunable spin textures in heterochiral magnets.

    

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2. A puzzling insensitivity of magnon spin diffusion to the presence of 180-degree domain walls

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-38095-3  

   Li, Ruofan ; Riddiford, Lauren J. ; Chai, Yahong ; Dai, Minyi ; Zhong, Hai ; Li, Bo ; Li, Peng ; Yi, Di ; Zhang, Yuejie ; Broadway, David A. ; et al ( December 2023 , Nature Communications)

   Abstract We present room-temperature measurements of magnon spin diffusion in epitaxial ferrimagnetic insulator MgAl 0.5 Fe 1.5 O 4 (MAFO) thin films near zero applied magnetic field where the sample forms a multi-domain state. Due to a weak uniaxial magnetic anisotropy, the domains are separated primarily by 180° domain walls. We find, surprisingly, that the presence of the domain walls has very little effect on the spin diffusion – nonlocal spin transport signals in the multi-domain state retain at least 95% of the maximum signal strength measured for the spatially-uniform magnetic state, over distances at least five times the typical domain size. This result is in conflict with simple models of interactions between magnons and static domain walls, which predict that the spin polarization carried by the magnons reverses upon passage through a 180° domain wall. 

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3. Comb Tensor Networks

   Chepiga, Natalia ; White, Steven R ( June 2019 , Physical review)

   In this paper we propose a special type of a tree tensor network that has the geometry of a comb—a one-dimensional (1D) backbone with finite 1D teeth projecting out from it. This tensor network is designed to provide an effective description of higher-dimensional objects with special limited interactions or, alternatively, one-dimensional systems composed of complicated zero-dimensional objects. We provide details on the best numerical procedures for the proposed network, including an algorithm for variational optimization of the wave function as a comb tensor network and the transformation of the comb into a matrix product state. We compare the complexity of using a comb versus alternative matrix product state representations using density matrix renormalization group algorithms. As an application, we study a spin-1 Heisenberg model system which has a comb geometry. In the case where the ends of the teeth are terminated by spin-1/2 spins, we find that Haldane edge states of the teeth along the backbone form a critical spin-1/2 chain, whose properties can be tuned by the coupling constant along the backbone. By adding next-nearest-neighbor interactions along the backbone, the comb can be brought into a gapped phase with a long-range dimerization along the backbone. The critical and dimerized phases are separated by a Kosterlitz-Thouless phase transition, the presence of which we confirm numerically. Finally, we show that when the teeth contain an odd number of spins and are not terminated by spin-1/2's, a special type of comb edge states emerge. 

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4. Investigation of the monopole magneto-chemical potential in spin ices using capacitive torque magnetometry

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-31297-1  

   Anand, Naween ; Barry, Kevin ; Neu, Jennifer N. ; Graf, David E. ; Huang, Qing ; Zhou, Haidong ; Siegrist, Theo ; Changlani, Hitesh J. ; Beekman, Christianne ( July 2022 , Nature Communications)

   The single-ion anisotropy and magnetic interactions in spin-ice systems give rise to unusual non-collinear spin textures, such as Pauling states and magnetic monopoles. The effective spin correlation strength (J_eff) determines the relative energies of the different spin-ice states. With this work, we display the capability of capacitive torque magnetometry in characterizing the magneto-chemical potential associated with monopole formation. We build a magnetic phase diagram of Ho₂Ti₂O₇, and show that the magneto-chemical potential depends on the spin sublattice (αorβ), i.e., the Pauling state, involved in the transition. Monte Carlo simulations using the dipolar-spin-ice Hamiltonian support our findings of a sublattice-dependent magneto-chemical potential, but the model underestimates theJ_efffor theβ-sublattice. Additional simulations, including next-nearest neighbor interactions (J₂), show that long-range exchange terms in the Hamiltonian are needed to describe the measurements. This demonstrates that torque magnetometry provides a sensitive test forJ_effand the spin-spin interactions that contribute to it.

    

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5. How a highly acidic SH3 domain folds in the absence of its charged peptide target

   https://doi.org/10.1002/pro.4635  

   Jaramillo‐Martinez, Valeria ; Dominguez, Matthew J. ; Bell, Gemma M. ; Souness, Megan E. ; Carhart, Anna H. ; Cuibus, M. Adriana ; Masoumzadeh, Elahe ; Lantz, Benjamin J. ; Adkins, Aaron J. ; Latham, Michael P. ; et al ( April 2023 , Protein Science)

   Charged residues on the surface of proteins are critical for both protein stability and interactions. However, many proteins contain binding regions with a high net charge that may destabilize the protein but are useful for binding to oppositely charged targets. We hypothesized that these domains would be marginally stable, as electrostatic repulsion would compete with favorable hydrophobic collapse during folding. Furthermore, by increasing the salt concentration, we predict that these protein folds would be stabilized by mimicking some of the favorable electrostatic interactions that take place during target binding. We varied the salt and urea concentrations to probe the contributions of electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions for the folding of the yeast SH3 domain found in Abp1p. The SH3 domain was significantly stabilized with increased salt concentrations due to Debye–Huckel screening and a nonspecific territorial ion‐binding effect. Molecular dynamics and NMR show that sodium ions interact with all 15 acidic residues but do little to change backbone dynamics or overall structure. Folding kinetics experiments show that the addition of urea or salt primarily affects the folding rate, indicating that almost all the hydrophobic collapse and electrostatic repulsion occur in the transition state. After the transition state formation, modest yet favorable short‐range salt bridges are formed along with hydrogen bonds, as the native state fully folds. Thus, hydrophobic collapse offsets electrostatic repulsion to ensure this highly charged binding domain can still fold and be ready to bind to its charged peptide targets, a property that is likely evolutionarily conserved over 1 billion years.

    

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