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1. Superconductivity from On-Chip Metallization on 2D Topological Chalcogenides

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevX.14.021051  

   Jia, Yanyu; Yu, Guo; Song, Tiancheng; Yuan, Fang; Uzan, Ayelet J; Tang, Yue; Wang, Pengjie; Singha, Ratnadwip; Onyszczak, Michael; Zheng, Zhaoyi Joy; et al (June 2024, Physical Review X)

   Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) is a versatile class of quantum materials of interest to various fields including, e.g., nanoelectronics, optical devices, and topological and correlated quantum matter. Tailoring the electronic properties of TMDs is essential to their applications in many directions. Here, we report that a highly controllable and uniform on-chip 2D metallization process converts a class of atomically thin TMDs into robust superconductors, a property belonging to none of the starting materials. As examples, we demonstrate the introduction of superconductivity into a class of 2D air-sensitive topological TMDs, including monolayers of ${\mathrm{T}}_{\mathrm{d}}\text{−}{\mathrm{WTe}}_2$, $1{\mathrm{T}}^{\prime }\text{−}{\mathrm{MoTe}}_2$, and $2\mathrm{H}\text{−}{\mathrm{MoTe}}_2$, as well as their natural and twisted bilayers, metallized with an ultrathin layer of palladium. This class of TMDs is known to exhibit intriguing topological phases ranging from topological insulator, Weyl semimetal to fractional Chern insulator. The unique, high-quality two-dimensional metallization process is based on our recent findings of the long-distance, non-Fickian in-plane mass transport and chemistry in 2D that occur at relatively low temperatures and in devices fully encapsulated with inert insulating layers. Highly compatible with existing nanofabrication techniques for van der Waals stacks, our results offer a route to designing and engineering superconductivity and topological phases in a class of correlated 2D materials. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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2. Dual-Baseline Search for Active-to-Sterile Neutrino Oscillations in NOvA

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.081804  

   Acero, M A; Acharya, B; Adamson, P; Anfimov, N; Antoshkin, A; Arrieta-Diaz, E; Asquith, L; Aurisano, A; Back, A; Balashov, N; et al (February 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   We report a search for neutrino oscillations to sterile neutrinos under a model with three active and one sterile neutrinos ( $3+1$model). This analysis uses the NOvA detectors exposed to the NuMI beam, running in neutrino mode. The data exposure, $13.6\times {10}^{20}$protons on target, doubles that previously analyzed by NOvA, and the analysis is the first to use ${\nu }_{\mu }$charged-current interactions in conjunction with neutral-current interactions. Neutrino samples in the near and far detectors are fitted simultaneously, enabling the search to be carried out over a $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{41}^2$range extending 2 (3) orders of magnitude above (below) $1{\mathrm{eV}}^2$. NOvA finds no evidence for active-to-sterile neutrino oscillations under the $3+1$model at 90% confidence level. New limits are reported in multiple regions of parameter space, excluding some regions currently allowed by IceCube at 90% confidence level. We additionally set the most stringent limits for anomalous ${\nu }_{\tau }$appearance for $\mathrm{\Delta }{m}_{41}^2\le 3{\mathrm{eV}}^2$. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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3. A QCD $R$ -axion

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.111.015048  

   Unwin, James; Yildirim, Tom (January 2025, Physical Review D)

   $R$-parity can be extended to a continuous global $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$symmetry. We investigate whether an anomalous $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$can be identified as the Peccei-Quinn symmetry suitable for solving the strong $CP$problem within supersymmetric extensions of the Standard Model. In this case, $\mathrm{U}(1{)}_R$is broken at some intermediate scale and the quantum chromodynamics axion is the $R$-axion. Moreover, the $R$-symmetry can potentially be gauged via the Green-Schwarz mechanism within completions to supergravity, in order to evade the axion quality problem. Obstacles to realizing this scenario are highlighted and phenomenologically viable approaches are identified. Published by the American Physical Society2025 

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4. Treelike structure of symmetry topological field theories and multisector QFTs

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.106013  

   Baume, Florent; Heckman, Jonathan J; Hübner, Max; Torres, Ethan; Turner, Andrew P; Yu, Xingyang (May 2024, Physical Review D)

   The global symmetries of a $D$-dimensional quantum field theory (QFT) can, in many cases, be captured in terms of a ( $D+1$)-dimensional symmetry topological field theory (SymTFT). In this work we construct a ( $D+1$)-dimensional theory which governs the symmetries of QFTs with multiple sectors which have connected correlators that admit a decoupling limit. The associated symmetry field theory decomposes into a SymTree, namely a treelike structure of SymTFTs fused along possibly nontopological junctions. In string-realized multisector QFTs, these junctions are smoothed out in the extradimensional geometry, as we demonstrate in examples. We further use this perspective to study the fate of higher-form symmetries in the context of holographic large $M$averaging where the topological sectors of different large $M$replicas become dressed by additional extended operators associated with the SymTree. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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5. Solar neutrinos and ${\nu }_2$ visible decays to ${\nu }_1$

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevD.109.013003  

   de_Gouvêa, André; Weill, Jean; Sen, Manibrata (January 2024, Physical Review D)

   Experimental bounds on the neutrino lifetime depend on the nature of the neutrinos and the details of the potentially new physics responsible for neutrino decay. In the case where the decays involve active neutrinos in the final state, the neutrino masses also qualitatively impact how these manifest themselves experimentally. In order to further understand the impact of nonzero neutrino masses, we explore how observations of solar neutrinos constrain a very simple toy model. We assume that neutrinos are Dirac fermions and there is a new massless scalar that couples to neutrinos such that a heavy neutrino— ${\nu }_2$with mass $m_2$—can decay into a lighter neutrino— ${\nu }_1$with mass $m_1$—and a massless scalar. We find that the constraints on the new physics coupling depend, sometimes significantly, on the ratio of the daughter-to-parent neutrino masses and that, for large-enough values of the new physics coupling, the “dark side” of the solar neutrino parameter space— ${\sin }^2{\theta }_{12}\sim 0.7$—provides a reasonable fit to solar neutrino data, if only ${}^8\mathrm{B}$or ${}^7\mathrm{Be}$neutrino data alone are considered, but no allowed region is found in the combined analysis. Our results generalize to other neutrino-decay scenarios, including those that mediate ${\nu }_2\to {\nu }_1{\overline{\nu }}_3{\nu }_3$when the neutrino mass ordering is inverted mass and $m_2>m_1\gg m_3$, the mass of ${\nu }_3$. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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