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1. Observation of Spin-Singlet Butterfly Rydberg Molecules in an Ultracold Atomic Rb Gas

   https://doi.org/10.1103/q5r1-whjr  

   Exner, Markus; Srikumar, Rohan; Blättner, Richard; Schmelcher, Peter; Sadeghpour, H R; Eiles, Matthew T; Ott, Herwig (June 2026, Physical Review Letters)

   We report the observation of spin-singlet ultralong-range Rydberg butterfly molecules consisting of a ground-state atom bound to a Rydberg atom by $P$-wave scattering of ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}$Rydberg electrons from ${}^{87}\mathrm{Rb}\left(5\mathrm{s}\right)$atoms. A three-photon excitation scheme enables the photoassociation of these molecules by weakly admixing $\mathrm{Rb}\left(18f_{7/2}\right)$states. The measured binding energies, kilo-Debye permanent electric dipole moments, and lifetimes are in excellent agreement with theory. Two long-lived vibrational levels, red detuned from the $\mathrm{Rb}\left(18f_{7/2}\right)$threshold, are observed. This experiment is a foundational step in the production of ultracold anions and heavy Rydberg ion-pair systems. 

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2. Properties of Cosmic Deuterons Measured by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.132.261001  

   Aguilar, M; Alpat, B; Ambrosi, G; Anderson, H; Arruda, L; Attig, N; Bagwell, C; Barao, F; Barbanera, M; Barrin, L; et al (June 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   Precision measurements by the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) on the International Space Station of the deuteron ( $D$) flux are presented. The measurements are based on $21\times {10}^6$ $D$nuclei in the rigidity range from 1.9 to 21 GV collected from May 2011 to April 2021. We observe that over the entire rigidity range the $D$flux exhibits nearly identical time variations with the $p$, ${}^3\mathrm{He}$, and ${}^4\mathrm{He}$fluxes. Above 4.5 GV, the $D/{}^4\mathrm{He}$flux ratio is time independent and its rigidity dependence is well described by a single power law $\propto R^{\mathrm{\Delta }}$with ${\mathrm{\Delta }}_{D/{}^4\mathrm{He}}=-0.108\pm 0.005$. This is in contrast with the ${}^3\mathrm{He}/{}^4\mathrm{He}$flux ratio for which we find ${\mathrm{\Delta }}_{{}^3\mathrm{He}/{}^4\mathrm{He}}=-0.289\pm 0.003$. Above $\sim 13\mathrm{GV}$we find a nearly identical rigidity dependence of the $D$and $p$fluxes with a $D/p$flux ratio of $0.027\pm 0.001$. These unexpected observations indicate that cosmic deuterons have a sizable primarylike component. With a method independent of cosmic ray propagation, we obtain the primary component of the $D$flux equal to $9.4\pm 0.5\%$of the ${}^4\mathrm{He}$flux and the secondary component of the $D$flux equal to $58\pm 5\%$of the ${}^3\mathrm{He}$flux. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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3. Spin-Forbidden Excitations in the Magneto-optical Spectra of ${\mathrm{CrI}}_3$ Tuned by Covalency

   https://doi.org/10.1103/4km4-4rvn  

   Occhialini, Connor A; Nessi, Luca; Martins, Luiz_G P; Demir, Ahmet Kemal; Song, Qian; Hasse, Vicky; Shekhar, Chandra; Felser, Claudia; Watanabe, Kenji; Taniguchi, Takashi; et al (July 2025, Physical Review X)

   Spin-forbidden ( $\mathrm{\Delta }S\ne 0$) multiplet excitations and their coupling to magnetic properties are of increasing importance for magneto-optical studies of correlated materials. Nonetheless, the mechanisms for optically brightening these transitions and their generality remain poorly understood. Here, we report magnetic circular dichroism (MCD) spectroscopy on the van der Waals ferromagnet (FM) ${\mathrm{CrI}}_3$. Previously unreported spin-forbidden ( $\mathrm{\Delta }S=1$) ${{}^{4}A}_{2\mathrm{g}}\to {{}^{2}E}_{\mathrm{g}}/{{}^{2}T}_{1\mathrm{g}}$ ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$ $dd$excitations are observed near the ligand-to-metal charge-transfer excitation threshold. The assignment of these excitations and their ${\mathrm{Cr}}^{3+}$multiplet character is established through complementary Cr $L_3$-edge resonant inelastic x-ray scattering measurements along with charge-transfer multiplet calculations and chemical trends in the chromium trihalide series ( $\mathrm{Cr}{X}_3$, $X=$Cl, Br, I). We utilize the high sensitivity of MCD spectroscopy to study the thickness-dependent optical response. The spin-forbidden excitations remain robust down to the monolayer limit, and we observe a significant magnetic-field dependence of the MCD spectrum across the antiferromagnetic-to-FM transition in few-layer samples. We preliminarily attribute this behavior to changes in the metal-ligand covalency with magnetic state. Our results clarify the magneto-optical response of ${\mathrm{CrI}}_3$and identify covalency as a central mechanism for the brightening and field tunability of spin-forbidden multiplet excitations. 

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4. Shedding Light on the Origin of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$ , the Heaviest $s$ -Process–Only Isotope in the Solar System

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.133.052702  

   Casanovas-Hoste, A; Domingo-Pardo, C; Lerendegui-Marco, J; Guerrero, C; Tarifeño-Saldivia, A; Krtička, M; Pignatari, M; Calviño, F; Schumann, D; Heinitz, S; et al (July 2024, Physical Review Letters)

   Asymptotic giant branch stars are responsible for the production of most of the heavy isotopes beyond Sr observed in the solar system. Among them, isotopes shielded from the $r$-process contribution by their stable isobars are defined as $s$-only nuclei. For a long time the abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$, the heaviest $s$-only isotope, has been a topic of debate because state-of-the-art stellar models appeared to systematically underestimate its solar abundance. Besides the impact of uncertainties from stellar models and galactic chemical evolution simulations, this discrepancy was further obscured by rather divergent theoretical estimates for the neutron capture cross section of its radioactive precursor in the neutron-capture flow, ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$( $t_{1/2}=3.78\mathrm{yr}$), and by the lack of experimental data on this reaction. We present the first ever neutron capture measurement on ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$, conducted at the CERN neutron time-of-flight facility n_TOF, employing a sample of only 9 mg of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$produced at the Institute Laue Langevin high flux reactor. By complementing our new results with semiempirical calculations we obtained, at the $s$-process temperatures of $kT\approx 8\mathrm{keV}$and $kT\approx 30\mathrm{keV}$, Maxwellian-averaged cross sections (MACS) of 580(168) mb and 260(90) mb, respectively. These figures are about 3% lower and 20% higher than the corresponding values widely used in astrophysical calculations, which were based only on theoretical calculations. By using the new ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}$MACS, the uncertainty arising from the ${}^{204}\mathrm{Tl}(\mathrm{n},\gamma )$cross section on the $s$-process abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$has been reduced from $\sim 30\%$down to $+8\%/-6\%$, and the $s$-process calculations are in agreement with the latest solar system abundance of ${}^{204}\mathrm{Pb}$reported by K. Lodders in 2021. Published by the American Physical Society2024 

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5. First Measurement of $A=4$ Hypernuclei and Antihypernuclei at the LHC

   https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.134.162301  

   Acharya, S; Agarwal, A; Aglieri_Rinella, G; Aglietta, L; Agnello, M; Agrawal, N; Ahammed, Z; Ahmad, S; Ahn, S U; Ahuja, I; et al (April 2025, Physical Review Letters)

   In this Letter, the first evidence of the ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{He}}$antihypernucleus is presented, along with the first measurement at the LHC of the production of (anti)hypernuclei with mass number $A=4$, specifically $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$. In addition, the antiparticle-to-particle ratios for both hypernuclei ( ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{H}}/{}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and ${}_{\overline{\mathrm{\Lambda }}}{}^4\overline{\mathrm{He}}/{}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$) are shown, which are sensitive to the baryochemical potential of the strongly interacting matter created in heavy-ion collisions. The results are obtained from a data sample of central Pb-Pb collisions, collected during the 2018 LHC data taking at a center-of-mass energy per nucleon pair of $\sqrt{s_{\mathrm{NN}}}=5.02\mathrm{TeV}$. The yields measured for the average of the charge-conjugated states are found to be $[0.78\pm 0.19\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.17\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)]\times {10}^{-6}$for the $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $[1.08\pm 0.34\left(\mathrm{stat}\right)\pm 0.20\left(\mathrm{syst}\right)]\times {10}^{-6}$for the $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$, and the measured antiparticle-to-particle ratios are in agreement with unity. The presence of $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$excited states is expected to strongly enhance the production yield of these hypernuclei. The yield values exhibit a combined deviation of $3.3\sigma$from the theoretical ground-state-only expectation, while the inclusion of the excited states in the calculations leads to an agreement within $0.6\sigma$with the present measurements. Additionally, the measured $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{H}$and $\left(\mathrm{anti}\right){}_{\mathrm{\Lambda }}{}^4\mathrm{He}$masses are compatible with the world-average values within the uncertainties. © 2025 CERN, for the ALICE Collaboration2025CERN 

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