Search

X-ray scattering has been an indispensable tool in advancing our understanding of matter, from the first evidence of the crystal lattice to recent discoveries of nuclei's fastest dynamics. In addition to the lattice, ultrafast resonant elastic scattering of soft X-rays provides a sensitive probe of charge, spin, and orbital order with unparalleled nanometre spatial and femto- to picosecond temporal resolution. However, the full potential of this technique remains largely unexploited due to its high demand on the X-ray source. Only a selected number of instruments at large-scale facilities can deliver the required short-pulsed and wavelength-tunable radiation, rendering laboratory-scale experiments elusive so far. Here, we demonstrate time-resolved X-ray scattering with spectroscopic contrast at a laboratory-based instrument using the soft-X-ray radiation emitted from a laser-driven plasma source. Specifically, we investigate the photo-induced response of magnetic domains emerging in a ferrimagnetic heterostructure with 9$\,$ps temporal resolution. The achieved sensitivity allows for tracking the reorganisation of the domain network on pico- to nanosecond time scales in great detail. This instrumental development and experimental demonstration break new ground for studying material dynamics in a wide range of laterally ordered systems in a flexible laboratory environment.

We develop a class of functions Omega_N(x; mu, nu) in N-dimensional space concentrated around a spherical shell of the radius mu and such that, being convoluted with an isotropic Gaussian function, these functions do not change their expression but only a value of its 'width' parameter, nu. Isotropic Gaussian functions are a particular case of Omega_N(x; mu, nu) corresponding to mu = 0. Due to their features, these functions are an efficient tool to build approximations to smooth and continuous spherically-symmetric functions including oscillating ones. Atomic images in limited-resolution maps of the electron density, electrostatic scattering potential and other scalar fields studied in physics, chemistry, biology, and other natural sciences are examples of such functions. We give simple analytic expressions of Omega_N(x; mu, nu) for N = 1, 2, 3 and analyze properties of these functions. Representation of oscillating functions by a sum of Omega_N(x; mu, nu) allows calculating distorted maps for the same cost as the respective theoretical fields. We give practical examples of such representation for the interference functions of the uniform unit spheres for N = 1, 2, 3 that define the resolution of the respective images. Using the chain rule and analytic expressions of the Omega_N(x; mu, nu) derivatives makes simple refinement of parameters of the models which describe these fields.

To construct higher-dimensional counterparts of the Kerr-Newman black holes, we consider Einstein's equations sourced by a vector field and a negative cosmological constant. In contrast to the four-dimensional case, the Maxwell's equations are modified by sources generated by topological Chern-Simons couplings, the situation already encountered in the minimal five dimensional supergravity. After constructing explicit geometries in all odd dimensions, we demonstrate that the Klein-Gordon equation on the new backgrounds is fully separable., Comment: 25 pages, references added

Temporal fluctuations in the superconducting qubit lifetime, $T_1$, bring up additional challenges in building a fault-tolerant quantum computer. While the exact mechanisms remain unclear, $T_1$ fluctuations are generally attributed to the strong coupling between the qubit and a few near-resonant two-level systems (TLSs) that can exchange energy with an assemble of thermally fluctuating two-level fluctuators (TLFs) at low frequencies. Here, we report $T_1$ measurements on the qubits with different geometrical footprints and surface dielectrics as a function of the temperature. By analyzing the noise spectrum of the qubit depolarization rate, $\Gamma_1 = 1/T_1$, we can disentangle the impact of TLSs, non-equilibrium quasiparticles (QPs), and equilibrium (thermally excited) QPs on the variance in $\Gamma_1$. We find that $\Gamma_1$ variances in the qubit with a small footprint are more susceptible to the QP and TLS fluctuations than those in the large-footprint qubits. Furthermore, the QP-induced variances in all qubits are consistent with the theoretical framework of QP diffusion and fluctuation. We suggest these findings can offer valuable insights for future qubit design and engineering optimization., Comment: 6+4 pages, 3+3 figures

Fermilab recently completed production and testing of 1.3 GHz cryomodules for the LCLS-II project. Each cryomodule consists of eight TESLA-shaped superconducting elliptical cavities equipped with two High Order Mode (HOM) coupler ports. Measurement of the HOM spectrum is part of the incoming quality control of cavities at room temperature and the final qualification cold test of cryomodules at the Cryomodule Test Facility (CMTF). In this paper we describe the procedure for measuring the HOM spectrum along with further data processing. Finally, we present accumulated statistics of individual HOM frequencies and quality factors related to various cavity vendors and discuss the possible contribution of HOMs to heat loads and beam dynamics., Comment: 32nd Linear Accelerator Conference (LINAC 2024)

Motivated by gauged supergravities, we consider gravitational systems coupled to arbitrary numbers of fluxes and scalar fields. We show that simple ansatze for asymptotically AdS solutions in these systems fully determine the potential for the scalars, and we construct the black hole geometries which generalize the solutions known in gauged supergravities to an arbitrary number of dimensions. We also construct branes and brane intersections supported by an arbitrary number of higher-form fluxes and a correlated number of scalars., Comment: 65 pages, typos fixed, references added

We construct several solutions of effective actions for string theories beyond the supergravity approximation utilizing the framework of the Double Field Theory (DFT). The DFT effective actions, which are well suited for accommodating abelian and non-abelian T dualities, are naturally written in terms of modified connections and curvatures with torsion. We construct the most general solutions with vanishing modified torsion, and such geometries don't receive quantum corrections. We also compute the leading $\alpha'$ corrections to several supergravity solutions, including a pair of geometries related by a non-abelian T duality., Comment: 44 pages v3: comments added

Spectral flow in two-dimensional field theories is known to correspond to geometrical twisting between two circles in the gravity dual. We generalize this operation to the geometries which have SO(k+1) x SO(k+1) isometries with k>1 and perform various non-abelian T-dualities of the resulting twisted backgrounds. Combination of non-abelian twists and dualities leads to a new solution generating technique in supergravity, and we apply it to the geometries dual to supersymmetric states in N=4 super-Yang-Mills theory., Comment: 56 pages. v3: references added

We construct regular solutions of Einstein's equations connecting two copies of the $AdS_d$ space. Our geometries approach $AdS_{d-p} \times S^p$ in the interior, and topologically they have wormhole-like structures with non-contractible spheres $S^p$. Being inspired by charged branes, these solutions are supported by higher form gauge fields and a $d$-dimensional cosmological constant. Our ansatz also covers regular wormholes connecting two copies of $AdS_{q} \times S^{d-q}$ with various values of q, and we uncover an interesting phase structure of initial conditions leading to different interpolations., Comment: 71 pages, 17 figures. V2: references added, typos fixed

We present measurements and simulations of superconducting Nb co-planar waveguide resonators on sapphire substrate down to millikelvin temperature range with different readout powers. In the high temperature regime, we demonstrate that the Nb film residual surface resistance is comparable to that observed in the ultra-high quality, bulk Nb 3D superconducting radio frequency cavities while the resonator quality is dominated by the BCS thermally excited quasiparticles. At low temperature both the resonator quality factor and frequency can be well explained using the two-level system models. Through the energy participation ratio simulations, we find that the two-level system loss tangent is $\sim 10^{-2}$, which agrees quite well with similar studies performed on the Nb 3D cavities.

The Superconducting Quantum Materials and Systems center is developing searches for dark photons, axions and ALPs with the goal of improving upon the current state-of-the-art sensitivity. These efforts leverage on Fermi National Accelerator expertise on ultra-high quality factor superconducting radio frequency cavities combined with the center research on quantum technology. Here we focus on multiple axion searches that utilize ~1E10 quality factor superconducting radio frequency cavities and their resonant modes to enhance the production and/or detection of axions in the cavity volume. In addition, we present preliminary results of single-mode and multi-mode nonlinearity measurements that were carried out as part of an experimental feasibility study to gain insight on the behavior of the ultra-high quality factor resonators and the experimental RF system in the regime relevant for axion searches., Comment: 6 pages, 9 figures

Real-space refinement of atomic models in macromolecular crystallography or in cryo electron microscopy fits a model to a map obtained experimentally. This requires generating model maps of a limited resolution which moreover may vary from one molecular region to another. Calculating such map as a sum of atomic contributions requires that these contributions reflect the local resolution of the experimental map. A possibility to refine the parameters of these contribution means to express it as a function of atomic coordinates, displacement factor and eventually of resolution. Recently, Urzhumtsev & Lunin (BioRxiv, 10.1101/2022.03.28.486044) suggested to decompose finite-resolution atomic images, and more generally spherically symmetric oscillating functions in space, into a sum of specially designed terms analytically dependent on all atomic parameters. Each term is a spherically symmetric function concentrated in a spherical shell. Here we describe the software and respective algorithms to carry out such shell decomposition of oscillating functions.

This is a Snowmass white paper on the utility of existing and future superconducting cavities to probe fundamental physics. Superconducting radio frequency (SRF) cavity technology has seen tremendous progress in the past decades, as a tool for accelerator science. With advances spear-headed by the SQMS center at Fermilab, they are now being brought to the quantum regime becoming a tool in quantum science thanks to the high degree of coherence. The same high quality factor can be leveraged in the search for new physics, including searches for new particles, dark matter, including the QCD axion, and gravitational waves. We survey some of the physics opportunities and the required directions of R&D. Given the already demonstrated integration of SRF cavities in large accelerator systems, this R&D may enable larger scale searches by dedicated experiments., Comment: Submitted to the Proceedings of the US Community Study on the Future of Particle Physics (Snowmass 2021). 19 pages, 21 figures

We study neutral black branes with flat and curved worldvolumes in the presence of a negative cosmological constant. We reduce the equations governing the dynamics of such objects to one second--order ODE and perform various asymptotic expansions of the resulting equation. We also analyze regular geometries which have the same symmetries as the branes and interpolate between an empty interior and AdS asymptotics. We show that the dynamics of such spacetimes is governed by the Abel equation., Comment: 33 pages

In this letter, we present the direct loss tangent measurement of a high-resistivity intrinsic (100) silicon wafer in the temperature range from ~ 70 mK to 1 K, approaching the quantum regime. The measurement was performed using a technique that takes advantage of a high quality factor superconducting niobium resonator and allows to directly measure the loss tangent of insulating materials with high level of accuracy and precision. We report silicon loss tangent values at the lowest temperature and for electric field amplitudes comparable to those found in planar transmon devices one order of magnitude larger than what was previously estimated. In addition, we discover a non-monotonic trend of the loss tangent as a function of temperature that we describe by means of a phenomenological model based on variable range hopping conduction between localized states around the Fermi energy. We also observe that the dissipation increases as a function of the electric field and that this behavior can be qualitatively described by the variable range hopping conduction mechanism as well. This study lays the foundations for a novel approach to investigate the loss mechanisms and accurately estimate the loss tangent in insulating materials in the quantum regime, leading to a better understanding of coherence in quantum devices.

We consider dynamics of scalar and vector fields on gravitational backgrounds of the Wess-Zumino-Witten models. For SO(4) and its cosets, we demonstrate full separation of variables for all fields and find a close analogy with a similar separation of vector equations in the backgrounds of the Myers--Perry black holes. For SO(5) and higher groups separation of variables is found only in some subsectors., Comment: 62 pages

We demonstrate separability of the dynamical equations for all p-form fluxes in the Myers-Perry-(A)dS geometry, extending the earlier results for electromagnetic field. In the physically important cases of p=(1,2,3,4), we explicitly write the ODEs governing the dynamics of separable solutions., Comment: 56 pages

We study dynamics of scalar fields on a large class of geometries described by integrable sigma models. Although equations of motion are not separable due to absence of isometries and Killing tensors, we completely determine the spectra using algebraic and group-theoretic methods., Comment: 52 pages, references and comments added

A new test stand dedicated to Superconducting Radiofrequency (SRF) cryomodule testing, CMTS1, has been commissioned and is now in operation at Fermilab. The first device to be cooled down and powered in this facility is the prototype 1.3 GHz cryomodule assembled at Fermilab for LCLS-II. We describe the demonstrated capabilities of CMTS1, report on steps taken during commissioning, provide an overview of first test results, and survey future plans., Comment: 4 pp. Proceedings of LINAC2016, East Lansing, MI, USA