@inproceedings{17423, abstract = {We introduce an algorithm to reconstruct a mesh from discrete samples of a shape’s Signed Distance Function (SDF). A simple geometric reinterpretation of the SDF lets us formulate the problem through a point cloud, from which a surface can be extracted with existing techniques. We extract all possible information from the SDF data, outperforming commonly used algorithms and imposing no topological or geometric restrictions.}, author = {Sellán, Silvia and Ren, Yingying and Batty, Christopher and Stein, Oded}, booktitle = {SIGGRAPH '24: Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques Conference}, isbn = {9798400705250}, location = {Denver, CO, United States}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {{Reach for the arcs: Reconstructing surfaces from SDFs via tangent points}}, doi = {10.1145/3641519.3657419}, year = {2024}, } @article{17424, abstract = {Surface-based inflatables are composed of two thin layers of nearly inextensible sheet material joined together along carefully selected fusing curves. During inflation, pressure forces separate the two sheets to maximize the enclosed volume. The fusing curves restrict this expansion, leading to a spatially varying in-plane contraction and hence metric frustration. The inflated structure settles into a 3D equilibrium that balances pressure forces with the internal elastic forces of the sheets. We present a computational framework for analyzing and designing surface-based inflatable structures with arbitrary fusing patterns. Our approach employs numerical homogenization to characterize the behavior of parametric families of periodic inflatable patch geometries, which can then be combined to tessellate the sheet with smoothly varying patterns. We propose a novel parametrization of the underlying deformation space that allows accurate, efficient, and systematical analysis of the stretching and bending behavior of inflated patches with potentially open boundaries. We apply our homogenization algorithm to create a database of geometrically diverse fusing patterns spanning a wide range of material properties and deformation characteristics. This database is employed in an inverse design algorithm that solves for fusing curves to best approximate a given input target surface. Local patches are selected and blended to form a global network of curves based on a geometric flattening algorithm. These fusing curves are then further optimized to minimize the distance of the deployed structure to target surface. We show that this approach offers greater flexibility to approximate given target geometries compared to previous work while significantly improving structural performance.}, author = {Ren, Yingying and Panetta, Julian and Suzuki, Seiichi and Kusupati, Uday and Isvoranu, Florin and Pauly, Mark}, issn = {1557-7368}, journal = {ACM Transactions on Graphics}, number = {4}, publisher = {Association for Computing Machinery}, title = {{Computational homogenization for inverse design of surface-based inflatables}}, doi = {10.1145/3658125}, volume = {43}, year = {2024}, } @article{17435, abstract = {The Mediterranean region is experiencing pronounced aridification and in certain areas higher occurrence of intense precipitation. In this work, we analyze the evolution of the precipitation probability distribution in terms of precipitating days (or “wet-days”) and all-days quantile trends, in Europe and the Mediterranean, using the ERA5 reanalysis. Looking at the form of wet-days quantile trends curves, we identify four regimes. Two are predominant: in most of northern Europe the precipitation quantiles all intensify, while in the Mediterranean the low-medium quantiles are mostly decreasing as extremes intensify or decrease. The wet-days distribution is then modeled by a Weibull law with two parameters, whose changes capture the four regimes. Assessing the significance of the parameters' changes over 1950–2020 shows that a signal on wet-days distribution has already emerged in northern Europe (where the distribution shifts to more intense precipitation), but not yet in the Mediterranean, where the natural variability is stronger. We extend the results by describing the all-days distribution change as the wet-days’ change plus a contribution from the dry-days frequency change, and study their relative contribution. In northern Europe, the wet-days distribution change is the dominant driver, and the contribution of dry-days frequency change can be neglected for wet-days percentiles above about 50%. In the Mediterranean, however, the change of precipitation distribution comes from the significant increase of dry-days frequency instead of an intensity change during wet-days. Therefore, in the Mediterranean the increase of dry-days frequency is crucial for all-days trends, even for heavy precipitation.}, author = {André, Julie and D'Andrea, Fabio and Drobinski, Philippe and Muller, Caroline J}, issn = {2169-8996}, journal = {Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres}, number = {15}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Regimes of precipitation change over Europe and the Mediterranean}}, doi = {10.1029/2023JD040413}, volume = {129}, year = {2024}, } @article{17436, abstract = {The auxin signaling molecule controls a variety of growth and developmental processes in land plants. Auxin regulates gene expression through a nuclear auxin signaling pathway (NAP) consisting of the ubiquitin ligase auxin receptor TIR1/AFB, its Aux/IAA degradation substrate, and DNA-binding ARF transcription factors. Although extensive qualitative understanding of the pathway and its interactions has been obtained, mostly by studying the flowering plant Arabidopsis thaliana, it remains unknown how these translate to quantitative system behavior in vivo, a problem that is confounded by the large NAP gene families in most species. Here, we used the minimal NAP of the liverwort Marchantia polymorpha to quantitatively map NAP protein accumulation and dynamics in vivo through the use of knockin fluorescent fusion proteins. Beyond revealing the dynamic native accumulation profile of the entire NAP protein network, we discovered that the two central ARFs, MpARF1 and MpARF2, are proteasomally degraded. This auxin-independent degradation tunes ARF protein stoichiometry to favor gene activation, thereby reprogramming auxin response during the developmental progression. Thus, quantitative analysis of the entire NAP has enabled us to identify ARF degradation and the stoichiometries of activator and repressor ARFs as a potential mechanism for controlling gemma germination.}, author = {Das, Shubhajit and De Roij, Martijn and Bellows, Simon and Alvarez, Melissa Dipp and Mutte, Sumanth and Kohlen, Wouter and Farcot, Etienne and Weijers, Dolf and Borst, Jan Willem}, issn = {2590-3462}, journal = {Plant Communications}, number = {11}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Quantitative imaging reveals the role of MpARF proteasomal degradation during gemma germination}}, doi = {10.1016/j.xplc.2024.101039}, volume = {5}, year = {2024}, } @article{17437, abstract = {We prove that the zero-fiber of the moment map of a totally negative quiver has rational singularities. Our proof consists in generalizing dimension bounds on jet spaces of this fiber, which were introduced by Budur. We also transfer the rational singularities property to other moduli spaces of objects in 2-Calabi-Yau categories, based on recent work of Davison. This has interesting arithmetic applications on quiver moment maps and moduli spaces of objects in 2-Calabi-Yau categories. First, we generalize results of Wyss on the asymptotic behaviour of counts of jets of quiver moment maps over finite fields. Moreover, we interpret the limit of counts of jets on a given moduli space as its p-adic volume under a canonical measure analogous to the measure built by Carocci, Orecchia and Wyss on certain moduli spaces of coherent sheaves.}, author = {Vernet, Tanguy}, issn = {1531-586X}, journal = {Transformation Groups}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Rational singularities for moment maps of totally negative quivers}}, doi = {10.1007/s00031-024-09873-0}, year = {2024}, } @article{17442, abstract = {Although eukaryotic Argonautes have a pivotal role in post-transcriptional gene regulation through nucleic acid cleavage, some short prokaryotic Argonaute variants (pAgos) rely on auxiliary nuclease factors for efficient foreign DNA degradation1. Here we reveal the activation pathway of the DNA defence module DdmDE system, which rapidly eliminates small, multicopy plasmids from the Vibrio cholerae seventh pandemic strain (7PET)2. Through a combination of cryo-electron microscopy, biochemistry and in vivo plasmid clearance assays, we demonstrate that DdmE is a catalytically inactive, DNA-guided, DNA-targeting pAgo with a distinctive insertion domain. We observe that the helicase-nuclease DdmD transitions from an autoinhibited, dimeric complex to a monomeric state upon loading of single-stranded DNA targets. Furthermore, the complete structure of the DdmDE–guide–target handover complex provides a comprehensive view into how DNA recognition triggers processive plasmid destruction. Our work establishes a mechanistic foundation for how pAgos utilize ancillary factors to achieve plasmid clearance, and provides insights into anti-plasmid immunity in bacteria. }, author = {Bravo, Jack Peter Kelly and Ramos, Delisa A. and Fregoso Ocampo, Rodrigo and Ingram, Caiden and Taylor, David W.}, issn = {1476-4687}, journal = {Nature}, number = {8018}, pages = {961--967}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Plasmid targeting and destruction by the DdmDE bacterial defence system}}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-024-07515-9}, volume = {630}, year = {2024}, } @article{17447, abstract = {Let F be a diagonal cubic form over Z in six variables. From the dual variety in the delta method of Duke–Friedlander–Iwaniec and Heath‐Brown, we unconditionally extract a weighted count of certain special integral zeros of F in regions of diameter X - 8 . Heath‐Brown did the same in four variables, but our analysis differs and captures some novel features. We also put forth an axiomatic framework for more general F.}, author = {Wang, Victor}, issn = {1469-7750}, journal = {Journal of the London Mathematical Society}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Special cubic zeros and the dual variety}}, doi = {10.1112/jlms.12975}, volume = {110}, year = {2024}, } @article{17449, abstract = {We prove that the $k$-th positive integer moment of partial sums of Steinhaus random multiplicative functions over the interval $(x, x+H]$ matches the corresponding Gaussian moment, as long as $H\ll x/(\log x)^{2k^2+2+o(1)}$ and $H$ tends to infinity with $x$. We show that properly normalized partial sums of typical multiplicative functions arising from realizations of random multiplicative functions have Gaussian limiting distribution in short moving intervals $(x, x+H]$ with $H\ll X/(\log X)^{W(X)}$ tending to infinity with $X$, where $x$ is uniformly chosen from $\{1,2,\dots, X\}$, and $W(X)$ tends to infinity with $X$ arbitrarily slowly. This makes some initial progress on a recent question of Harper.}, author = {Pandey, Mayank and Wang, Victor and Xu, Max Wenqiang}, issn = {1944-7833}, journal = {Algebra & Number Theory}, number = {2}, pages = {389--408}, publisher = {Mathematical Sciences Publishers}, title = {{Partial sums of typical multiplicative functions over short moving intervals}}, doi = {10.2140/ant.2024.18.389}, volume = {18}, year = {2024}, } @article{17457, abstract = {Autoantibodies against the protein leucine-rich glioma inactivated 1 (LGI1) cause the most common subtype of autoimmune encephalitis with predominant involvement of the limbic system, associated with seizures and memory deficits. LGI1 and its receptor ADAM22 are part of a transsynaptic protein complex that includes several proteins involved in presynaptic neurotransmitter release and postsynaptic glutamate sensing. Autoantibodies against LGI1 increase excitatory synaptic strength, but studies that genetically disrupt the LGI1-ADAM22 complex report a reduction in postsynaptic glutamate receptor-mediated responses. Thus, the mechanisms underlying the increased synaptic strength induced by LGI1 autoantibodies remain elusive, and the contributions of presynaptic molecules to the LGI1-transsynaptic complex remain unclear. We therefore investigated the presynaptic mechanisms that mediate autoantibody-induced synaptic strengthening.}, author = {Ritzau-Jost, Andreas and Gsell, Felix and Sell, Josefine and Sachs, Stefan and Montanaro-Punzengruber, Jacqueline-Claire and Kirmann, Toni and Maaß, Sebastian and Irani, Sarosh R. and Werner, Christian and Geis, Christian and Sauer, Markus and Shigemoto, Ryuichi and Hallermann, Stefan}, issn = {2332-7812}, journal = {Neurology, Neuroimmunology and Neuroinflammation}, number = {5}, pages = {e200284}, publisher = {Wolters Kluwer}, title = {{LGI1 autoantibodies enhance synaptic transmission by presynaptic Kv1 loss and increased action potential broadening}}, doi = {10.1212/NXI.0000000000200284}, volume = {11}, year = {2024}, } @article{17458, abstract = {Changes in gene dosage can have tremendous evolutionary potential (e.g. whole-genome duplications), but without compensatory mechanisms, they can also lead to gene dysregulation and pathologies. Sex chromosomes are a paradigmatic example of naturally occurring gene dosage differences and their compensation. In species with chromosome-based sex determination, individuals within the same population necessarily show ‘natural’ differences in gene dosage for the sex chromosomes. In this Review, we focus on the mammalian X chromosome and discuss recent new insights into the dosage-compensation mechanisms that evolved along with the emergence of sex chromosomes, namely X-inactivation and X-upregulation. We also discuss the evolution of the genetic loci and molecular players involved, as well as the regulatory diversity and potentially different requirements for dosage compensation across mammalian species.}, author = {Cecalev, Daniela and Vicoso, Beatriz and Galupa, Rafael}, issn = {1477-9129}, journal = {Development}, number = {15}, publisher = {The Company of Biologists}, title = {{Compensation of gene dosage on the mammalian X}}, doi = {10.1242/dev.202891}, volume = {151}, year = {2024}, } @article{17460, abstract = {Filaments in the cell commonly treadmill. Driven by energy consumption, they grow on one end while shrinking on the other, causing filaments to appear motile even though individual proteins remain static. This process is characteristic of cytoskeletal filaments and leads to collective filament self-organization. Here we show that treadmilling drives filament nematic ordering by dissolving misaligned filaments. Taking the bacterial FtsZ protein involved in cell division as an example, we show that this mechanism aligns FtsZ filaments in vitro and drives the organization of the division ring in living Bacillus subtilis cells. We find that ordering via local dissolution also allows the system to quickly respond to chemical and geometrical biases in the cell, enabling us to quantitatively explain the ring formation dynamics in vivo. Beyond FtsZ and other cytoskeletal filaments, our study identifies a mechanism for self-organization via constant birth and death of energy-consuming filaments.}, author = {Vanhille-Campos, Christian Eduardo and Whitley, Kevin D. and Radler, Philipp and Loose, Martin and Holden, Séamus and Šarić, Anđela}, issn = {1745-2481}, journal = {Nature Physics}, pages = {1670--1678}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Self-organization of mortal filaments and its role in bacterial division ring formation}}, doi = {10.1038/s41567-024-02597-8}, volume = {20}, year = {2024}, } @article{17461, abstract = {Socially living animals can counteract disease through cooperative defences, leading to social immunity that collectively exceeds the sum of individual defences. In superorganismal colonies of social insects with permanent caste separation between reproductive queen(s) and nonreproducing workers, workers are obligate altruists and thus engage in unconditional social immunity, including highly specialised and self-sacrificial hygiene behaviours. Contrastingly, cooperation is facultative in cooperatively breeding families, where all members are reproductively totipotent but offspring transiently forgo reproduction to help their parents rear more siblings. Here, helpers should either express condition-dependent social immunity or disperse to pursue independent reproduction. We advocate inclusive fitness theory as a framework to predict when and how indirect fitness gains may outweigh direct fitness costs, thus favouring conditional social immunity.}, author = {Cremer, Sylvia and Pull, Christopher}, issn = {1471-5007}, journal = {Trends in Parasitology}, number = {9}, pages = {780--787}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Unconditional versus condition-dependent social immunity}}, doi = {10.1016/j.pt.2024.07.014}, volume = {40}, year = {2024}, } @article{17462, abstract = {We are interested in numerical algorithms for computing the electrical field generated by a charge distribution localized on scale l in an infinite heterogeneous correlated random medium, in a situation where the medium is only known in a box of diameter L >>l around the support of the charge. We show that the algorithm in [J. Lu, F. Otto, and L. Wang, Optimal Artificial Boundary Conditions Based on Second-Order Correctors for Three Dimensional Random Ellilptic Media, preprint, arXiv:2109.01616, 2021], suggesting optimal Dirichlet boundary conditions motivated by the multipole expansion [P. Bella, A. Giunti, and F. Otto, Comm. Partial Differential Equations, 45 (2020), pp. 561–640], still performs well in correlated media. With overwhelming probability, we obtain a convergence rate in terms of l, L, and the size of the correlations for which optimality is supported with numerical simulations. These estimates are provided for ensembles which satisfy a multiscale logarithmic Sobolev inequality, where our main tool is an extension of the semigroup estimates in [N. Clozeau, Stoch. Partial Differ. Equ. Anal. Comput., 11 (2023), pp. 1254–1378]. As part of our strategy, we construct sublinear second-order correctors in this correlated setting, which is of independent interest.}, author = {Clozeau, Nicolas and Wang, Lihan}, issn = {1540-3467}, journal = {Multiscale Modeling and Simulation}, number = {3}, pages = {973--1029}, publisher = {Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics}, title = {{Artificial boundary conditions for random elliptic systems with correlated coefficient field}}, doi = {10.1137/23M1603819}, volume = {22}, year = {2024}, } @article{17463, abstract = {Allosteric modulation of protein function, wherein the binding of an effector to a protein triggers conformational changes at distant functional sites, plays a central part in the control of metabolism and cell signalling1,2,3. There has been considerable interest in designing allosteric systems, both to gain insight into the mechanisms underlying such ‘action at a distance’ modulation and to create synthetic proteins whose functions can be regulated by effectors4,5,6,7. However, emulating the subtle conformational changes distributed across many residues, characteristic of natural allosteric proteins, is a significant challenge8,9. Here, inspired by the classic Monod–Wyman–Changeux model of cooperativity10, we investigate the de novo design of allostery through rigid-body coupling of peptide-switchable hinge modules11 to protein interfaces12 that direct the formation of alternative oligomeric states. We find that this approach can be used to generate a wide variety of allosterically switchable systems, including cyclic rings that incorporate or eject subunits in response to peptide binding and dihedral cages that undergo effector-induced disassembly. Size-exclusion chromatography, mass photometry13 and electron microscopy reveal that these designed allosteric protein assemblies closely resemble the design models in both the presence and absence of peptide effectors and can have ligand-binding cooperativity comparable to classic natural systems such as haemoglobin14. Our results indicate that allostery can arise from global coupling of the energetics of protein substructures without optimized side-chain–side-chain allosteric communication pathways and provide a roadmap for generating allosterically triggerable delivery systems, protein nanomachines and cellular feedback control circuitry.}, author = {Pillai, Arvind and Idris, Abbas and Philomin, Annika and Weidle, Connor and Skotheim, Rebecca and Leung, Philip J.Y. and Broerman, Adam and Demakis, Cullen and Borst, Andrew J. and Praetorius, Florian M and Baker, David}, issn = {1476-4687}, journal = {Nature}, pages = {911–920 }, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{De novo design of allosterically switchable protein assemblies}}, doi = {10.1038/s41586-024-07813-2}, volume = {632}, year = {2024}, } @article{17474, abstract = {Entropic risk (ERisk) is an established risk measure in finance, quantifying risk by an exponential re-weighting of rewards. We study ERisk for the first time in the context of turn-based stochastic games with the total reward objective. This gives rise to an objective function that demands the control of systems in a risk-averse manner. We show that the resulting games are determined and, in particular, admit optimal memoryless deterministic strategies. This contrasts risk measures that previously have been considered in the special case of Markov decision processes and that require randomization and/or memory. We provide several results on the decidability and the computational complexity of the threshold problem, i.e. whether the optimal value of ERisk exceeds a given threshold. Furthermore, an approximation algorithm for the optimal value of ERisk is provided.}, author = {Baier, Christel and Chatterjee, Krishnendu and Meggendorfer, Tobias and Piribauer, Jakob}, issn = {1090-2651}, journal = {Information and Computation}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Entropic risk for turn-based stochastic games}}, doi = {10.1016/j.ic.2024.105214}, volume = {301}, year = {2024}, } @article{17475, abstract = {As a discrete analogue of Kac’s celebrated question on ‘hearing the shape of a drum’ and towards a practical graph isomorphism test, it is of interest to understand which graphs are determined up to isomorphism by their spectrum (of their adjacency matrix). A striking conjecture in this area, due to van Dam and Haemers, is that ‘almost all graphs are determined by their spectrum’, meaning that the fraction of unlabelled n-vertex graphs which are determined by their spectrum converges to 1 as n → ∞. In this paper, we make a step towards this conjecture, showing that there are exponentially many n-vertex graphs which are determined by their spectrum. This improves on previous bounds (of shape e c √ n ). We also propose a number of further directions of research. }, author = {Koval, Illya and Kwan, Matthew Alan}, issn = {1464-3847}, journal = {Quarterly Journal of Mathematics}, number = {3}, pages = {869--899}, publisher = {Oxford University Press}, title = {{Exponentially many graphs are determined by their spectrum}}, doi = {10.1093/qmath/haae030}, volume = {75}, year = {2024}, } @article{17476, abstract = {Lead halide perovskites have recently been reported to demonstrate an exceptionally high nonlinear (Kerr) refractive index n2 of up to 10−8cm2/W in CH3⁢NH3⁢PbBr3. Other researchers, however, observe different, substantially more conservative numbers. In order to resolve this disagreement, the nonlinear Kerr index of a bulk sample of lead halide perovskite was measured directly by means of an interferometer. This approach has many advantages as compared to the more standard z-scan technique. In particular, this method allows studying the induced changes to the refractive index in a time-resolved manner, thus enabling to separate the different contributions to 𝑛2. The extracted 𝑛2 values for CsPbBr3 and MAPbBr3 at 𝜆≈1µ⁢m are 𝑛2=+2.1×10−14cm2/W and 𝑛2=+6×10−15cm2/W, respectively. Hence, these values are substantially lower than what has been indicated in most of the previous reports, implying the latter one should be regarded with great care.}, author = {Lorenc, Dusan and Zhumekenov, Ayan and Bakr, Osman M. and Alpichshev, Zhanybek}, issn = {2475-9953}, journal = {Physical Review Materials}, number = {8}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{No extraordinary χ(3) in lead-halide perovskites: Placing an upper bound on Kerr nonlinearity by means of time-resolved interferometry}}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevMaterials.8.085403}, volume = {8}, year = {2024}, } @article{17477, abstract = {Trapped-ion systems are a leading platform for quantum information processing, but they are currently limited to 1D and 2D arrays, which imposes restrictions on both their scalability and their range of applications. Here, we propose a path to overcome this limitation by demonstrating that Penning traps can be used to realize remarkably clean bilayer crystals, wherein hundreds of ions self-organize into two well-defined layers. These bilayer crystals are made possible by the inclusion of an anharmonic trapping potential, which is readily implementable with current technology. We study the normal modes of this system and discover salient differences compared to the modes of single-plane crystals. The bilayer geometry and the unique properties of the normal modes open new opportunities—in particular, in quantum sensing and quantum simulation—that are not straightforward in single-plane crystals. Furthermore, we illustrate that it may be possible to extend the ideas presented here to realize multilayer crystals with more than two layers. Our work increases the dimensionality of trapped-ion systems by efficiently utilizing all three spatial dimensions, and it lays the foundation for a new generation of quantum information processing experiments with multilayer 3D crystals of trapped ions.}, author = {Hawaldar, Samarth and Shahi, Prakriti and Carter, Allison L. and Rey, Ana Maria and Bollinger, John J. and Shankar, Athreya}, issn = {2160-3308}, journal = {Physical Review X}, number = {3}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Bilayer crystals of trapped ions for quantum information processing}}, doi = {10.1103/PhysRevX.14.031030}, volume = {14}, year = {2024}, } @article{17478, abstract = {We study the Fröhlich polaron model in R3, and prove a lower bound on its ground state energy as a function of the total momentum. The bound is asymptotically sharp at large coupling. In combination with a corresponding upper bound proved earlier (Mitrouskas et al. in Forum Math. Sigma 11:1–52, 2023), it shows that the energy is approximately parabolic below the continuum threshold, and that the polaron’s effective mass (defined as the semi-latus rectum of the parabola) is given by the celebrated Landau–Pekar formula. In particular, it diverges as α4 for large coupling constant α.}, author = {Brooks, Morris and Seiringer, Robert}, issn = {1618-1913}, journal = {Publications Mathematiques de l'Institut des Hautes Etudes Scientifiques}, pages = {271--309}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The Fröhlich polaron at strong coupling: Part II — Energy-momentum relation and effective mass}}, doi = {10.1007/s10240-024-00150-0}, volume = {140}, year = {2024}, } @article{17479, abstract = {Phonon polaritons (PhPs), light coupled to lattice vibrations, in the highly anisotropic polar layered material molybdenum trioxide (α-MoO3) are currently the focus of intense research efforts due to their extreme subwavelength field confinement, directional propagation, and unprecedented low losses. Nevertheless, prior research has primarily concentrated on exploiting the squeezing and steering capabilities of α-MoO3 PhPs, without inquiring much into the dominant microscopic mechanism that determines their long lifetimes, which is key for their implementation in nanophotonic applications. This study delves into the fundamental processes that govern PhP damping in α-MoO3 by combining ab initio calculations with scattering-type scanning near-field optical microscopy (s-SNOM) and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy measurements across a broad temperature range (8–300 K). The remarkable agreement between our theoretical predictions and experimental observations allows us to identify third-order anharmonic phonon–phonon scattering as the main damping mechanism of α-MoO3 PhPs. These findings shed light on the fundamental limits of low-loss PhPs, which is a crucial factor for assessing their implementation into nanophotonic devices.}, author = {Taboada-Gutiérrez, Javier and Zhou, Yixi and Tresguerres-Mata, Ana I.F. and Lanza, Christian and Martínez-Suárez, Abel and Álvarez-Pérez, Gonzalo and Duan, Jiahua and Martín, José Ignacio and Vélez, María and Prieto Gonzalez, Ivan and Bercher, Adrien and Teyssier, Jérémie and Errea, Ion and Nikitin, Alexey Y. and Martín-Sánchez, Javier and Kuzmenko, Alexey B. and Alonso-González, Pablo}, issn = {2330-4022}, journal = {ACS Photonics}, number = {9}, pages = {3570--3577}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Unveiling the mechanism of phonon-polariton damping in α‑MoO3}}, doi = {10.1021/acsphotonics.4c00485}, volume = {11}, year = {2024}, }