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We investigate how the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC) impacts the predicted signals in near-future direct detection experiments for non-standard dark matter (DM) interactions, using the Auriga cosmological simulations. We extract the local DM distribution of a simulated Milky Way-like halo that has an LMC analogue and study the expected signals in DarkSide-20k, SBC, DARWIN/XLZD, SuperCDMS, NEWS-G, and DarkSPHERE considering DM-nucleon effective interactions, as well as inelastic DM scattering. We find that the LMC causes substantial shifts in direct detection exclusion limits towards smaller cross sections and DM masses for all non-relativistic effective field theory (NREFT) operators, with the impact being highly pronounced for velocity-dependent operators at low DM masses. For inelastic DM, where the DM particle up-scatters to a heavier state, the LMC shifts the direct detection exclusion limits towards larger DM mass splitting and smaller cross sections. Thus, we show that the LMC significantly expands the parameter space that can be probed by direct detection experiments towards smaller DM-nucleon cross sections for all NREFT operators and larger values of mass splitting for inelastic DM., Comment: 23 pages, 11 figures, 2 tables

It has been proposed that core-collapse supernovae (CCSNe) can take place along with the generation of a jet that fails to emerge from the stellar envelope of the progenitor star, i.e., a choked jet. Although the fraction of CCSNe that harbour such jets is unknown, it remains as an interesting possibility that can give rise to the production of high-energy neutrinos. In this work, we focus on the particular case of the recent type II supernova, SN 2023ixf, the closest of its class in the last decade. We describe the particle distributions of protons, pions, and muons in a putative jet applying a simple model to account for the relevant interactions, which are synchrotron cooling and interactions with the soft photon field in the ambient. After evaluating the produced fluence for different values of the viewing angle $i_{\rm j}$ with respect to the jet axis, and comparing with the upper bound by IceCube, we conclude that the generation of a choked jet in SN 2023ixf can not be ruled out. Specifically, for typical jet Lorentz factors of the jet $\Gamma=100$, the jet could have been produced with an half-opening angle $\theta_{\rm op}=0.2\,{\rm rad}$ but for a viewing angle $i_{\rm j}\gtrsim \theta_{\rm op}$, no significant Doppler boosting would take place along this direction. Therefore, the choked jet scenario in SN 2023ixf still remains compatible with observations provided our line of sight corresponds to an off-axis view of the jet., Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. Matches published version

The quantum conductance of flat (Euclidean) circuits subject to Rashba spin-orbit coupling shows a symmetric response to the inversion of the spin-orbit field in Aharonov-Casher interference patterns. Here, we show that this symmetry breaks down in curved (non-Euclidean) circuits defined on a spherical two-dimensional electron gas. We demonstrate that this is a consequence of parallel spin transport and holonomy on the surface of the sphere, and that a symmetric response can be recovered when considering the parallel transport condition as an offset. We discuss triangular circuits defined along geodesic arcs on the sphere as a case study, and generalize it to regular polygons and parallel curves of given latitude., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures

The driven Kerr parametric oscillator, of interest to fundamental physics and quantum technologies, exhibits an excited state quantum phase transition (ESQPT) originating in an unstable classical periodic orbit. The main signature of this type of ESQPT is a singularity in the level density in the vicinity of the energy of the classical separatrix that divides the phase space into two distinct regions. The quantum states with energies below the separatrix are useful for quantum technologies, because they show a cat-like structure that protects them against local decoherence processes. In this work, we show how chaos arising from the interplay between the external drive and the nonlinearities of the system destroys the ESQPT and eventually eliminates the cat states. Our results demonstrate the importance of the analysis of theoretical models for the design of new parametric oscillators with ever larger nonlinearities., Comment: 4 + pages, 4 figures + Supplemental Material

We investigate the effects of classical stickiness (orbits temporarily confined to a region of the chaotic phase space) to the structures of the quantum states of an open system. We consider the standard map of the kicked rotor and verify that regions of stickiness survive in the strong chaotic regime of the closed classical map. By scanning the system's phase space with a leak, we analyze how stickiness affects the degree of localization of the states of the quantum system. We find an excellent correspondence between the classical dwell time and finite-time Lyapunov exponents with the quantum dwell time and Wehrl entropy of the quantum states. Our approach suggests that knowledge of the structure of the classically chaotic trajectories can be used to determine where to place the leak to enhance or decrease the degree of delocalization of the quantum states., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

Millimeter-waveband spectra of Venus from both the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT) and the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) provide conclusive evidence (signal-to-noise ratio of about $15\sigma$) of a phosphine absorption-line profile against the thermal background from deeper, hotter layers of the atmosphere. Phosphine is an important biomarker; e.g., the trace of phosphine in the Earth's atmosphere is uniquivocally associated with anthropogenic activity and microbial life (which produces this highly reducing gas even in an overall oxidizing environment). Motivated by the JCMT and ALMA tantalizing observations we reexamine whether Venus could accommodate Earthly life. More concretly, we hypothesize that the microorganisms populating the venusian atmosphere are not free floating but confined to the liquid environment inside cloud aerosols or droplets. Armed with this hypothesis, we generalize a study of airborne germ transmission to constrain the maximum size of droplets that could be floating in the venusian atmosphere and estimate whether their Stokes fallout times to reach moderately high temperatures are pronouncedly larger than the microbe's replication time. We also comment on the effect of cosmic ray showers on the evolution of aerial microbial life., Comment: To be presented at the 15th Student Scholars Conference (SRAB 2024), Lehman College, April 15, 2024

Alcohol consumption has a significant impact on individuals' health, with even more pronounced consequences when consumption becomes excessive. One approach to promoting healthier drinking habits is implementing just-in-time interventions, where timely notifications indicating intoxication are sent during heavy drinking episodes. However, the complexity or invasiveness of an intervention mechanism may deter an individual from using them in practice. Previous research tackled this challenge using collected motion data and conventional Machine Learning (ML) algorithms to classify heavy drinking episodes, but with impractical accuracy and computational efficiency for mobile devices. Consequently, we have elected to use Hyperdimensional Computing (HDC) to design a just-in-time intervention approach that is practical for smartphones, smart wearables, and IoT deployment. HDC is a framework that has proven results in processing real-time sensor data efficiently. This approach offers several advantages, including low latency, minimal power consumption, and high parallelism. We explore various HDC encoding designs and combine them with various HDC learning models to create an optimal and feasible approach for mobile devices. Our findings indicate an accuracy rate of 89\%, which represents a substantial 12\% improvement over the current state-of-the-art.

Let $\mathfrak{g}$ be the simple Lie algebra of square matrices $(n+1)\times (n+1)$ with zero trace. There are certain relations concerning standard automorphisms that are considered ``folklore". One can find a complete proof of these in Millson and Toledano Laredo's work [Transformation Groups, Vol. 10, No. 2, 2005, pp. 217-254], but said proof is based on topological arguments which are non-trivial. The aim of this work is to verify these relations in an elementary way., Comment: 14 pages

Time crystals (TCs) are many-body systems displaying spontaneous breaking of time translation symmetry. Here, we demonstrate a TC using driven-dissipative condensates of microcavity exciton-polaritons, spontaneously formed from an incoherent particle bath. In contrast to other realizations, the TC phases can be controlled by the power of continuous-wave non-resonant optical drive exciting the condensate and optomechanical interactions with phonons. Those phases are for increasing power: (i) Larmor precession of pseudo-spins - a signature of continuous TC, (ii) locking of the frequency of precession to self-sustained coherent phonons - stabilized TC, (iii) doubling of TC frequency by phonons - a discrete TC with continuous excitation. These results establish microcavity polaritons as a platform for the investigation of time-broken symmetry in non-hermitian systems., Comment: 25 pages; 15 figures

The ubiquitous phenomenon of synchronization is inherently characteristic of dynamical dissipative non-linear systems. In particular, synchronization has been theoretically and experimentally demonstrated for exciton-polariton condensates with time-independent coupling. Unlike that case, we theoretically investigate the effects of a fixed mechanical harmonic driving, i.e., a coherent phonon population, that induces time modulation in the coupling of two coupled condensates. Our model applies both to electrically generated modulation, through coherent bulk acoustic waves, and to self-induced optomechanical vibrations. We consider linear as well as quadratic phonon-displacement-induced modulations of the polariton coupling. Peculiar asynchronously locked phases are found and analyzed in the context of synchronization and Josephson-type oscillations phenomena that appear in the non-driven case. Notably, Arnold tongues corresponding to the asynchronously locked phases emerge at condensate detunings that correspond to integer numbers of the mechanical frequency and also to rational fractions of it. Unlocked quasiperiodic and chaotic regimes can also be reached. In particular, the phonon-induced fractional locking frequencies arrange in a Farey sequence that produces a devil's staircase of the steady-state dressed detuning between the condensates. Importantly, both polariton-polariton and reservoir-polariton interactions facilitate the realization of coherent phonon-induced asynchronously locked phases. The relation to recent experiments on optomechanically driven condensates in arrays of polariton traps is discussed., Comment: 18 pages, 9 figures

Division algebras have demonstrated their utility in studying non-associative algebras and their connection to the Standard Model through complex Clifford algebras. This article focuses on exploring the connection between these complex Clifford algebras and their corresponding real Clifford algebras providing insight into geometric properties of bivector gauge symmetries. We first generate gauge symmetries in the complex Clifford algebra through a general Witt decomposition. Gauge symmetries act as a constraint on the underlying real Clifford algebra, where they're then translated from their complex form to their bivector counterpart. Spin group arguments allow the identification of bivector structures which preserve the gauge symmetry yielding the corresponding real Clifford algebra. We conclude that Standard Model gauge groups emerge from higher-dimensional Clifford algebras carrying Euclidean signatures, where particle states are recognized as a combination of basis elements corresponding to complex Euclidean Clifford algebras., Comment: 9 pages

In this paper, we use Galois descent techniques to find suitable representatives of the regular simple representations of the species of type $(2,2)$ over $k_n := k[\varepsilon^{1/n}]$, where $n$ is a positive integer and $k:=\mathbb{C}(\!(\varepsilon)\!)$ is the field of Laurent series over the complexes. These regular representations are essential for the definition of canonical algebras. Our work is inspired by the work done for species of type $(1,4)$ on $k$ in ``A model for the canonical algebras of bimodules type (1, 4) over truncated polynomial rings''. We presents all the regular simple representations on the $n$-crown quiver, and from these, we establish a partial classification of regular simple representations of bimodules type $(2,2)$., Comment: 26 pages, comments welcome

Kerr parametric oscillators are potential building blocks for fault-tolerant quantum computers. They can stabilize Kerr-cat qubits, which offer advantages toward the encoding and manipulation of error-protected quantum information. The recent realization of Kerr-cat qubits made use of the nonlinearity of the SNAIL transmon superconducting circuit and a squeezing drive. Increasing nonlinearities can enable faster gate times, but, as shown here, can also induce chaos and melt the qubit away. We determine the region of validity of the Kerr-cat qubit and discuss how its disintegration could be experimentally detected. The danger zone for parametric quantum computation is also a potential playground for investigating quantum chaos with driven superconducting circuits., Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures

Young supernova remnants (SNRs) strongly modify surrounding magnetic fields, which in turn play an essential role in accelerating cosmic rays (CRs). X-ray polarization measurements probe magnetic field morphology and turbulence at the immediate acceleration site. We report the X-ray polarization distribution in the northeastern shell of SN1006 from a 1 Ms observation with the Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE). We found an average polarization degree of $22.4\pm 3.5\%$ and an average polarization angle of $-45.4\pm 4.5^\circ$ (measured on the plane of the sky from north to east). The X-ray polarization angle distribution reveals that the magnetic fields immediately behind the shock in the northeastern shell of SN 1006 are nearly parallel to the shock normal or radially distributed, similar to that in the radio observations, and consistent with the quasi-parallel CR acceleration scenario. The X-ray emission is marginally more polarized than that in the radio band. The X-ray polarization degree of SN 1006 is much larger than that in Cas A and Tycho, together with the relatively tenuous and smooth ambient medium of the remnant, favoring that CR-induced instabilities set the turbulence in SN 1006 and CR acceleration is environment-dependent., Comment: 15 pages, 4 Figures, 2 Tables; accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journal

A widely used statistical theory of 2D turbulence developed by Kraichnan, Leith, and Batchelor (KLB) predicts a power-law scaling for the energy, $E(k)\propto k^\alpha$ with an integral exponent $\alpha={-3}$, in the inertial range associated with the direct cascade. In the presence of large-scale coherent structures, a power-law scaling is observed, but the exponent often differs substantially from the value predicted by the KLB theory. Here we present a dynamical theory which describes the key physical mechanism behind the direct cascade and sheds new light on the relationship between the structure of the large-scale flow and the scaling of the small-scale structures in the inertial range. This theory also goes a step beyond KLB, to predict the upper and lower bounds of the inertial range as well as the energy scaling in the dissipation range.

Choked gamma-ray bursts (CGRBs) are possible neutrino sources that have been proposed as capable of generating the flux detected by IceCube, since no accompanying gamma-ray signal is expected, as required by observations. We focus on obtaining the neutrino flux and flavor composition corresponding to CGRBs under different assumptions for the target photon density and the magnetic field of the emission region. We consider the injection of both electrons and protons into the internal shocks of CGRBs, and using a steady-state transport equation, we account for all the relevant cooling processes. In particular, we include the usually adopted background of soft photons, which is the thermalized emission originated at the shocked jet head. Additionally, we consider the synchrotron photons emitted by the electrons co-accelerated with the protons at the internal shocks in the jet. We also obtain the distributions of pions, kaons, and muons using the transport equation to account for the cooling effects due not only to synchrotron emission but also interactions with the soft photons in the ambient. We integrate the total diffuse flux of neutrinos of different flavors and compute the flavor ratios to be observed on Earth. As a consequence of the losses suffered mainly by pions and muons, we find these ratios to depend on the energy: for energies above ~(10^5-10^6) GeV (depending on the magnetic field, proton-to-electron ratio, and jet power), we find that the electron flavor ratio decreases and the muon flavor ratio increases, while the tau flavor ratio increases only moderately. Our results are sensitive to the mentioned key physical parameters of the emitting region of CGRBs. Hence, the obtained flavor ratios are to be contrasted with cumulative data from ongoing and future neutrino instruments in order to assess the contribution of these sources to the diffuse flux of astrophysical neutrinos., Comment: Final version. Typos corrected and Figs. 17 and 18 replaced by the correct versions

We study general ``normally'' distributed random unitary transformations. These distributions can be defined in terms of a diffusive random walk in the respective group manifold, formally underpinned by the concept of infinite divisibility. On the one hand, a normal distribution induces a unital quantum channel. On the other hand, the diffusive random walk defines a unital quantum process, which can be generated by a Lindblad master equation. In the single qubit case, we show that it is possible to find different distributions which induce the same quantum channel. In the case of two qubits, the normal quantum channels, i.e. quantum channels induced by normal distributions in ${\rm SU}(2)\otimes{\rm SU}(2)$ provide an appropriate framework for modeling correlated quantum errors. In contrast to correlated Pauli errors, for instance, they conserve their Markovianity, and they lead to very different results in error correcting codes or entanglement distillation. We expect our work to find applications in the tomography and modeling of one- and two-qubit errors in current quantum computer platforms, but also in the distillation of Bell pairs across imperfect communication channels, where it is conceivable that subsequently transmitted qubits are subject to correlated errors.

Nearby dwarf spheroidal galaxies are ideal targets in the search for indirect dark matter (DM) signals. In this work, we analyze MUSE spectroscopic observations of a sample of five galaxies, composed of both classical and ultra-faint dwarf spheroidals. The goal is to search for radiative decays of axion-like particles (ALPs) in the mass range of 2.7-5.3 eV. After taking into account the uncertainties associated with the DM spatial distribution in the galaxies, we derive robust bounds on the effective ALP-two-photon coupling. They lie well below the QCD axion band and are significantly more constraining than limits from other probes, in the relevant mass range. We also test the possible presence of a positive signal, concluding that none of the channels selected for this analysis, i.e., not affected by large background contamination, is exhibiting such evidence., Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures. Version accepted for publication in JCAP

The transport of energy and information in semiconductors is limited by scattering between electronic carriers and lattice phonons, resulting in diffusive and lossy transport that curtails all semiconductor technologies. Using Re6Se8Cl2, a van der Waals (vdW) superatomic semiconductor, we demonstrate the formation of acoustic exciton-polarons, an electronic quasiparticle shielded from phonon scattering. We directly image polaron transport in Re6Se8Cl2 at room temperature and reveal quasi-ballistic, wavelike propagation sustained for nanoseconds and several microns. Shielded polaron transport leads to electronic energy propagation orders of magnitude greater than in other vdW semiconductors, exceeding even silicon over nanoseconds. We propose that, counterintuitively, quasi-flat electronic bands and strong exciton-acoustic phonon coupling are together responsible for the remarkable transport properties of Re6Se8Cl2, establishing a new path to ballistic room-temperature semiconductors.

Dynamically planning in complex systems has been explored to improve decision-making in various domains. Professional basketball serves as a compelling example of a dynamic spatio-temporal game, encompassing context-dependent decision-making. However, processing the diverse on-court signals and navigating the vast space of potential actions and outcomes make it difficult for existing approaches to swiftly identify optimal strategies in response to evolving circumstances. In this study, we formulate the sequential decision-making process as a conditional trajectory generation process. Based on the formulation, we introduce PlayBest (PLAYer BEhavior SynThesis), a method to improve player decision-making. We extend the diffusion probabilistic model to learn challenging environmental dynamics from historical National Basketball Association (NBA) player motion tracking data. To incorporate data-driven strategies, an auxiliary value function is trained with corresponding rewards. To accomplish reward-guided trajectory generation, we condition the diffusion model on the value function via classifier-guided sampling. We validate the effectiveness of PlayBest through simulation studies, contrasting the generated trajectories with those employed by professional basketball teams. Our results reveal that the model excels at generating reasonable basketball trajectories that produce efficient plays. Moreover, the synthesized play strategies exhibit an alignment with professional tactics, highlighting the model's capacity to capture the intricate dynamics of basketball games., Comment: CIKM 2024

The quasi-energy spectrum recently measured in experiments with a squeeze-driven superconducting Kerr oscillator showed good agreement with the energy spectrum of its corresponding static effective Hamiltonian. The experiments also demonstrated that the dynamics of low-energy states can be explained with the same emergent static effective model. The spectrum exhibits real (avoided) level crossings for specific values of the Hamiltonian parameters, which can then be chosen to suppress (enhance) quantum tunneling. Here, we analyze the spectrum and the dynamics of the effective model up to high energies, which should soon be within experimental reach. We show that the parameters values for the crossings, which can be obtained from a semiclassical approach, can also be identified directly from the dynamics. Our analysis of quantum tunneling is done with the effective flux of the Husimi volume of the evolved states between different regions of the phase space. Both initial coherent states and quench dynamics are considered. We argue that the level crossings and their consequences to the dynamics are typical to any quantum system with one degree of freedom, whose density of states presents a local logarithmic divergence and a local step discontinuity., Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures

Atomic accelerometers and gravimeters are usually based on freely-falling atoms in atomic fountains, which not only limits their size, but also their robustness to environmental factors such as tilts, magnetic fields or vibrations. Such limitations have precluded their broad adoption in the field, for geophysics, geology, and inertial navigation. More recently, atom interferometers based on holding atoms in an optical lattice have been developed. Such gravimeters also suppress the influence of vibrations in the frequency range of ~1 Hz and above by several orders of magnitude relative to conventional atomic gravimeters. Here, we show that such interferometers are robust to tilts of more than 8 mrad with respect to the vertical and can suppress the effect of even strong environmental magnetic fields and field gradients by using atoms in the F=3,4 hyperfine ground states as co-magnetometers, potentially eliminating the need for shielding. We demonstrate gravimeter sensitivity of $0.7~\rm{mGal}/\sqrt{\rm Hz}$ ($1~{\rm mGal}=10~\mu\rm{m/s}^2$) in a compact geometry where atoms only travel over mm of space., Comment: 9 pages, 4 figures

Radiative emissions from electrons and positrons generated by dark matter (DM) annihilation or decay are one of the most investigated signals in indirect searches of WIMPs. Ideal targets must have large ratio of DM to baryonic matter. However, such ``dark'' systems have a poorly known level of magnetic turbulence, which determines the residence time of the electrons and positrons and therefore also the strength of the expected signal. This typically leads to significant uncertainties in the derived DM bounds. In a novel approach, we compute the self-confinement of the DM-induced electrons and positrons. Indeed, they themselves generate irregularities in the magnetic field, thus setting a lower limit on the presence of the magnetic turbulence. We specifically apply this approach to dwarf spheroidal galaxies. Finally, by comparing the expected synchrotron emission with radio data from the direction of the Draco galaxy collected at the Giant Metre Radio Telescope, we show that the proposed approach can be used to set robust and competitive bounds on WIMP DM., Comment: 18 pages, 10 figures. v2: minor revision, matches published version