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The traditional methods of teaching organic chemistry laboratories do not seem to effectively promote content retention, communication skills, or valuable soft skills. The purpose of this convergent triangulation mixed-methods, scholarship of teaching and learning action research study was to differentiate the impact of expository laboratory experiences and guided inquiry laboratory experiences on college students' perceptions of their knowledge and understanding, communication skills, and confidence levels related to organic chemistry. The overarching questions answered by this research study were (1) how do expository laboratory experiences impact college students' perceptions of their knowledge and understanding, communication skills, and confidence levels related to organic chemistry? And (2) How do guided inquiry laboratory experiences impact college students' perceptions of their knowledge and understanding, communication skills, and confidence levels related to organic chemistry? Students in the study completed a pre- and post- course survey, semi-structured interviews, oral and written laboratory reports, and a soft skills survey. The findings of this study revealed that students' perceptions of their knowledge and understanding increased as well as their persistence, motivation, and confidence levels much more as a result of the guided inquiry instruction when compared with the traditional, expository method of instruction. The findings from this study suggest that educators can deviate from traditional laboratory instruction to help students foster deeper, more meaningful connections while also nurturing critical transferable soft skills.

We show topologically ordered states in the complex-valued spectra of non-Hermitian systems. These arise when the distinctive exceptional points in the energy Riemann surfaces of such models are annihilated after threading them across the boundary of the Brillouin zone. This process results in a non-trivially closed branch cut that can be identified with a Fermi arc. Building on an analogy to Kitaev's toric code, these cut lines form non-contractible loops, which parallel the defect lines of the toric-code ground states. Their presence or absence establishes topological order for fully non-degenerate non-Hermitian systems. Excitations above these ground-state analogs are characterized by the occurrence of additional exceptional points. We illustrate the characteristics of the topologically protected states in a non-Hermitian two-band model and provide an outlook toward experimental realizations in metasurfaces and single-photon interferometry., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

The job shop scheduling problem (JSSP) and its solution algorithms have been of enduring interest in both academia and industry for decades. In recent years, machine learning (ML) is playing an increasingly important role in advancing existing and building new heuristic solutions for the JSSP, aiming to find better solutions in shorter computation times. In this paper we build on top of a state-of-the-art deep reinforcement learning (DRL) agent, called Neural Local Search (NLS), which can efficiently and effectively control a large local neighborhood search on the JSSP. In particular, we develop a method for training the decision transformer (DT) algorithm on search trajectories taken by a trained NLS agent to further improve upon the learned decision-making sequences. Our experiments show that the DT successfully learns local search strategies that are different and, in many cases, more effective than those of the NLS agent itself. In terms of the tradeoff between solution quality and acceptable computational time needed for the search, the DT is particularly superior in application scenarios where longer computational times are acceptable. In this case, it makes up for the longer inference times required per search step, which are caused by the larger neural network architecture, through better quality decisions per step. Thereby, the DT achieves state-of-the-art results for solving the JSSP with ML-enhanced search., Comment: currently under review for IEEE Transactions on Cybernetics

In the seminal proposal by Fu and Kane, the superconducting proximity effect was predicted to transform the surface state of a topological insulator (TI) into a topological superconductor, forming a nonchiral 1D Majorana state within a linear Josephson junction on the TI surface. The hallmark of this 1D Majorana state is a robust gap closing as a function of the superconducting phase difference $\varphi$ across the junction, which alternates in and out of the topological phase. These topological phase-transitions occur at $\varphi = (2n+1)\pi$ with integer $n$, leading to a $4\pi$-periodicity of the ground state. While the $4\pi$-periodicity has been indirectly inferred in the AC Josephson effect, the direct observation of the 1D Majorana state in a TI Josephson junction has remained contentious. Here, we report the direct observation of topological phase-transitions in a TI Josephson junction, where the local density of states is probed via tunnel contacts and $\varphi$ is controlled by a flux loop. The observed transitions are independent of the chemical potential, reinforcing their topological origin. Under an applied perpendicular magnetic field, Josephson vortices form, making $\varphi$ position-dependent. In this case, the gap closing occurs locally at the Josephson vortex cores where $\varphi = (2n+1)\pi$, which we also observe. Our findings provide direct confirmation of the Fu-Kane proposal and robust evidence for the emergence of topological superconductivity in a TI Josephson junction., Comment: 36 pages total; 26 pages of main text with 4 figures, 10 pages of supplement with 5 figures. The raw data and codes are available at the online depository Zenodo with the identifier 10.5281/zenodo.11615514

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) will use swap-out injection scheme for the Electron Storage Ring (ESR) to overcome limitations in polarization lifetime. However, the pursuit of highest luminosity with the required 28 nC electron bunches encounters stability challenges in the Rapid Cycling Synchrotron (RCS). One method is to inject multiple RCS bunches into a same ESR bucket. In this paper we perform simulation studies investigating proton emittance growth and electron emittance blowup in this injection scheme. Mitigation strategies are explored. These findings promise enhanced EIC stability and performance, shaping potential future operational improvements.

The Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) plans to utilize the local crabbing crossing scheme. This paper explores the feasibility of adopting a single crab cavity with adjusted voltage, inspired by the successful global crabbing scheme in KEKB, to restore effective head-on collisions. Using weak-strong simulations, the study assesses the potential of this global crabbing scheme for the EIC while emphasizing the need for adiabatic cavity ramping to prevent luminosity loss. Additionally, the research outlines potential risks associated with beam dynamics in implementing this scheme.

In this paper, we show that three different generalized similarities enclose all unitary and anti-unitary symmetries that induce exceptional points in lower-dimensional non-Hermitian systems. We prove that the generalized similarity conditions result in a larger class of systems than any class defined by a unitary or anti-unitary symmetry. Further we highlight that the similarities enforce spectral symmetry on the Hamiltonian resulting in a reduction of the codimension of exceptional points. As a consequence we show that the similarities drive the emergence of exceptional points in lower dimensions without the more restrictive need for a unitary and/or anti-unitary symmetry.

Exceptional points of order $n$ (EP$n$s) appear in non-Hermitian systems as points where the eigenvalues and eigenvectors coalesce. They emerge if $2(n-1)$ real constraints are imposed, such that EP2s generically appear in two dimensions (2D). Local symmetries have been shown to reduce this number of constraints. In this work, we provide a complete characterization of the appearance of symmetry-induced higher-order EPs in 2D parameter space. We find that besides EP2s only EP3s, EP4s, and EP5s can be stabilized in 2D. Moreover, these higher-order EPs must always appear in pairs with their dispersion determined by the symmetries. Upon studying the complex spectral structure around these EPs, we find that depending on the symmetry, EP3s are accompanied by EP2 arcs, and two- and three-level open Fermi structures. Similarly, EP4s and closely related EP5s, which arise due to multiple symmetries, are accompanied by exotic EP arcs and open Fermi structures. For each case, we provide an explicit example. We also comment on the topological charge of these EPs, and discuss similarities and differences between symmetry-protected higher-order EPs and EP2s.

Collisionless shocks play a key role in the heliosphere at planetary bow shocks by governing the conversion of the upstream bulk kinetic energy of the solar wind flow to other forms of energy in the downstream, including bulk plasma heat, acceleration of particles, and magnetic energy. Here we present the first observational identification of the velocity-space signature of shock-drift acceleration of ions at a perpendicular collisionless shock, previously predicted using kinetic numerical simulations, using a field-particle correlation analysis of Magnetospheric Multiscale (\emph{MMS}) observations of Earth's bow shock. Furthermore, by resolving the ion energization rates as a function of particle velocity, the field-particle correlation technique facilitates a clean quantitative separation of the energization rate of the reflected ions from that of the incoming ion beam, enabling a more complete characterization of the energy conversion at the shock.