@article{21488, abstract = {Human height is a model for the genetic analysis of complex traits, and recent studies suggest the presence of thousands of common genetic variant associations and hundreds of low-frequency/rare variants. Here, we develop a new algorithmic paradigm based on approximate message passing (genomic vector approximate message passing [gVAMP]) for identifying DNA sequence variants associated with complex traits and common diseases in large-scale whole-genome sequencing (WGS) data. We show that gVAMP accurately localizes associations to variants with the correct frequency and position in the DNA, outperforming existing fine-mapping methods in selecting the appropriate genetic variants within WGS data. We then apply gVAMP to jointly model the relationship of tens of millions of WGS variants with human height in hundreds of thousands of UK Biobank individuals. We identify 59 rare variants and gene burden scores alongside many hundreds of DNA regions containing common variant associations and show that understanding the genetic basis of complex traits will require the joint analysis of hundreds of millions of variables measured on millions of people. The polygenic risk scores obtained from gVAMP have high accuracy (including a prediction accuracy of ∼46% for human height) and outperform current methods for downstream tasks such as mixed linear model association testing across 13 UK Biobank traits. In conclusion, gVAMP offers a scalable foundation for a wider range of analyses in WGS data.}, author = {Depope, Al and Bajzik, Jakub and Mondelli, Marco and Robinson, Matthew Richard}, issn = {2666-979X}, journal = {Cell Genomics}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Joint modeling of whole-genome sequencing data for human height via approximate message passing}}, doi = {10.1016/j.xgen.2026.101162}, year = {2026}, } @article{21489, abstract = {We study Kirillov algebras attached to minuscule highest weight representations of semisimple Lie algebras. They can be viewed as equivariant cohomology algebras of partial flag varieties. Real structures on the varieties then induce involutions of these algebras. We describe how these involutions act on the spectra of minuscule Kirillov algebras, and model the fixed points via the equivariant cohomology of real partial flag varieties. We then use this model to characterise freeness of the fixed point coordinate ring over the appropriate base. As an application, we recover a q = -1 phenomenon of Stembridge in the minuscule case by geometric means.}, author = {Elkner, Mischa M}, issn = {1531-586X}, journal = {Transformation Groups}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{On involutions of minuscule Kirillov algebras induced by real structures}}, doi = {10.1007/s00031-026-09958-y}, year = {2026}, } @article{21490, abstract = {Auxin canalization is a self-organizing process that governs the flexible formation of vasculature by reinforcing the formation of auxin transport channels. A key prerequisite is the feedback between auxin signaling and directional auxin transport, mediated by PIN transporters. Despite the developmental importance of canalization, the molecular components linking auxin perception to the regulation of PIN auxin transporters remain poorly understood. Here, we identify TOW, a novel and essential component of auxin canalization that links intracellular auxin signaling with cell surface auxin perception. TOW is regulated downstream of TIR1/AFB-Aux/IAA-WRKY23 transcriptional auxin signaling. tow mutants exhibit defects in regeneration and de novo vasculature formation, along with impaired formation of polarized, PIN-expressing auxin channels. At the subcellular level, these mutants display disrupted auxin-induced PIN polarization and altered PIN endocytic trafficking dynamics. TOW localizes predominantly to the plasma membrane, where it interacts with receptor-like kinases involved in auxin canalization, including the TMK1 auxin co-receptor and the CAMEL-CANAR complex. TOW promotes PIN interaction with these kinases and stabilizes PINs at the cell surface. Together, our findings identify TOW as a molecular link between intracellular and cell surface auxin signaling mechanisms that converge on PIN trafficking and polarity, providing new insights into how auxin signaling regulates directional auxin transport for the self-organizing formation of vasculature during flexible plant development.}, author = {Li, Mingyue and Rydza, Nikola and Mazur, Ewa and Molnar, Gergely and Nodzyński, Tomasz and Friml, Jiří}, issn = {0960-9822}, journal = {Current Biology}, number = {6}, pages = {1468--1480.e6}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Receptor-like-kinase-interacting protein TOW stabilizes PIN transporters for auxin canalization}}, doi = {10.1016/j.cub.2026.02.023}, volume = {36}, year = {2026}, } @article{21501, abstract = {Kinetically constrained models were originally introduced to capture slow relaxation in glassy systems, where dynamics are hindered by local constraints instead of energy barriers. Their quantum counterparts have recently drawn attention for exhibiting highly degenerate eigenstates at zero energy—known as zero modes—stemming from chiral symmetry. Yet, the structure and implications of these zero modes remain poorly understood. In this work, we focus on the properties of the zero mode subspace in quantum kinetically constrained models with a U(1) particle-conservation symmetry. We use the U(1) East, which lacks inversion symmetry, and the inversion-symmetric U(1) East-West models to illustrate our two main results. First, we observe that the simultaneous presence of constraints and chiral symmetry generally leads to a parametric increase in the number of zero modes due to the fragmentation of the many-body Hilbert space into disconnected sectors. Second, we generalize the concept of compact localized states from single-particle physics and introduce the notion of collective bound states, a special kind of nonergodic eigenstates that are robust to enlarging the system size. We formulate sufficient criteria for their existence, arguing that the degenerate zero mode subspace plays a central role, and demonstrate bound states in both example models and in a two-dimensional model, the U(1) North-East, and in the pairflip model, a system without particle conservation. Our results motivate a systematic study of bound states and their relation to ergodicity breaking, transport, and other properties of quantum kinetically constrained models. }, author = {Nicolau Jimenez, Eulalia and Ljubotina, Marko and Serbyn, Maksym}, issn = {2691-3399}, journal = {PRX Quantum}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Fragmentation, zero modes, and collective bound states in constrained models}}, doi = {10.1103/sl79-1xgb}, volume = {7}, year = {2026}, } @article{21502, abstract = {The mammalian brain stores glucose, the main circulating energy substrate, as glycogen. In rodents, the cerebellum contains relatively high glycogen levels, yet its cellular and subcellular distribution remains poorly defined. Using monoclonal antibodies against glycogen, we examined its distribution in the mouse cerebellar cortex. Glycogen was predominantly localized to Bergmann glia (BG) processes in the molecular layer and was also detected in Purkinje cells (PCs), the principal cerebellar neurons. To assess the functional significance of cerebellar glycogen, we analyzed behavior in mice lacking glycogen synthase 1 (Gys1) in BG or PCs using a floxed Gys1 line. Gys1 deficiency in either PCs or GFAP-positive cells reduced anxiety-like behavior, whereas combined deletion caused PC degeneration and ataxia. These findings reveal a critical role for glycogen metabolism in both astrocytes and neurons in cerebellar function.}, author = {Akther, Sonam and Lee, Ashley Bomin and Konno, Ayumu and Asiminas, Antonis and Vittani, Marta and Mishima, Tsuneko and Hirai, Hirokazu and Meehan, Claire Francesca and Duran, Jordi and Guinovart, Joan and Ashida, Hitoshi and Morita, Tsuyoshi and Baba, Otto and Shigemoto, Ryuichi and Nedergaard, Maiken and Hirase, Hajime}, issn = {2589-0042}, journal = {iScience}, number = {4}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{Distribution and functional significance of rodent cerebellar glycogen}}, doi = {10.1016/j.isci.2026.115192}, volume = {29}, year = {2026}, } @article{21503, abstract = {Currently, pharmacogenetics relies on partially annotated star alleles, leaving novel variants and complex haplotypes uninterpretable. Computational scoring frameworks could overcome these limitations. Here, we comprehensively evaluated the ability of existing (CADD, FATHMM-XF, PROVEAN, MutationAssessor, SIFT, PhyloP100, APF, APF2) and novel (PharmGScore and PharmMLScore) variant effect predictors to assess pharmacogenetic alleles in multiple scenarios. Altogether we analyzed 541 PharmVar alleles, high‑throughput CYP2C9 and CYP2C19 mutational maps, and 200 642 UK Biobank exomes linked with health records containing antidepressant treatment outcomes. Many evaluated tools, especially ensemble frameworks, matched or exceeded star allele classifications (ROC‑AUC up to 0.85 for allele definitions, 0.95 in vitro; TPR up to 0.99 for exomes) and accurately predicted severe antidepressant adverse events for carriers of deleterious variants in CYP2C19 (OR 1.20–1.35). Our findings show that computational predictors deliver star allele accuracy while overcoming their limitations. With additional validation, computational tools could enhance clinical decision frameworks by enabling continuous scoring, incorporating previously unknown variants, and providing genome-wide applicability.}, author = {Hajto, Jacek and Piechota, Marcin and Krätschmer, Ilse and Konowalska, Paula and Boyle, Gabriel E. and Fowler, Douglas M. and Borczyk, Malgorzata and Korostynski, Michal}, issn = {1473-1150}, journal = {Pharmacogenomics Journal}, number = {2}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Computational variant predictors for pharmacogenomics: From evaluation of single alleles to assessment of adverse drug reactions to antidepressants}}, doi = {10.1038/s41397-026-00399-0}, volume = {26}, year = {2026}, } @article{21504, abstract = {Selecting an appropriate divergence measure is a critical aspect of machine learning, as it directly impacts model performance. Among the most widely used, we find the Kullback–Leibler (KL) divergence, originally introduced in kinetic theory as a measure of relative entropy between probability distributions. Just as in machine learning, the ability to quantify the proximity of probability distributions plays a central role in kinetic theory. In this paper, we present a comparative review of divergence measures rooted in kinetic theory, highlighting their theoretical foundations and exploring their potential applications in machine learning and artificial intelligence.}, author = {Auricchio, Gennaro and Brigati, Giovanni and Giudici, Paolo and Toscani, Giuseppe}, issn = {1793-6314}, journal = {Mathematical Models and Methods in Applied Sciences}, publisher = {World Scientific Publishing}, title = {{From kinetic theory to AI: A rediscovery of high-dimensional divergences and their properties}}, doi = {10.1142/S0218202526410010}, year = {2026}, } @article{21509, abstract = {Chromatin remodeling complexes mobilize nucleosomes and promote transcription factor (TF) binding. Using ensemble and single-molecule assays combined with cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), we studied the interaction between pioneer TFs OCT4–SOX2 and the human BRG1/BRM-associated factor (BAF) complex on nucleosomes. BAF engages TF-bound substrates in two orientations, placing OCT4–SOX2 at either the remodeler ENTRY or EXIT site. At the ENTRY site, OCT4–SOX2 initially coexists with BAF without structural interference. However, continued DNA translocation is expected to cause collisions with bound TFs, which can trigger remodeling direction reversals or may induce TF dissociation. To accommodate TFs at the EXIT site, BAF undergoes structural rearrangements, and ensemble assays reveal a nucleosome subpopulation translocating away from TF-binding sites. Moreover, single-molecule experiments show that nucleosome-bound BAF frequently changes remodeling direction, and we identify an ADP-bound remodeler conformation as a potential intermediate. Together, these findings reveal key aspects of the conformational dynamics and remodeling outcomes underlying BAF processing of TF-bound nucleosomes.}, author = {Weiss, Joscha and Vecchia, Luca and Domjan, David and Cavadini, Simone and Sabantsev, Anton and Kempf, Georg and Pathare, Ganesh R. and Brackmann, Klaus and Michael, Alicia and Kater, Lukas and Hietter-Pfeiffer, Eric and Haddawi, Mina and Kuber, Urja P. and Mühlhäusser, Sandra and Grand, Ralph S. and Stadler, Michael B. and Deindl, Sebastian and Thomä, Nicolas H.}, issn = {1097-2765}, journal = {Molecular Cell}, number = {4}, pages = {625--639.e8}, publisher = {Elsevier}, title = {{The human BAF chromatin remodeler processes nucleosomes bound by pioneer transcription factors OCT4–SOX2}}, doi = {10.1016/j.molcel.2026.01.021}, volume = {86}, year = {2026}, } @article{21532, abstract = {Recent research in nanophotonics for scintillation-based imaging has demonstrated promising improvements in scintillator performance. In parallel, advances in nanophotonics have enabled wavefront control through metasurfaces, a capability that has transformed fields such as microscopy by allowing tailored control of optical propagation. This naturally raises the following question, which we address in this Perspective: can wavefront-control strategies be leveraged to improve scintillation-based imaging? To answer this question, we explore nanophotonic- and metasurface-enabled wavefront control in scintillators to mitigate image blurring arising from their intrinsically diffuse light emission. While depth-of-field extension in scintillation faces fundamental limitations absent in microscopy, this approach reveals promising avenues, including stacked scintillators, selective spatial-frequency enhancement, and X-ray energy-dependent imaging. These results clarify the key distinctions in adapting wavefront engineering to scintillation and its potential to enable tailored detection strategies.}, author = {Chen, Joshua and Vaidya, Sachin and Pajovic, Simo and Choi, Seou and Michaels, William and Martin-Monier, Louis and Hu, Juejun and Cogswell, Carol and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Soljačić, Marin}, issn = {2330-4022}, journal = {ACS Photonics}, number = {7}, pages = {1757–1766}, publisher = {American Chemical Society}, title = {{Wavefront engineering for scintillation-based imaging}}, doi = {10.1021/acsphotonics.5c03124}, volume = {13}, year = {2026}, } @article{21537, abstract = {Nanophotonics has revolutionized the control of light-matter interactions in various fields of fundamental science and technology. In this work, we propose Implosion Fabrication (ImpFab) as a versatile nanophotonics fabrication platform providing the highest spatial resolution, material versatility, and full volumetric control. ImpFab uniquely combines top-down lithography with bottom-up nanoparticle assembly within a hydrogel scaffold, enabling precise control over optical material properties, such as refractive index, by adjusting printing parameters. We showcase the potential of ImpFab by fabricating three-dimensional photonic crystals and quasicrystals, as well as demonstrating optical structures with spatially modulated unit cell material properties. Our results highlight the potential of ImpFab in producing nanostructures with tailored optical functionalities, which are crucial for applications in sensing, imaging, and information processing, and opening new avenues in developing non-Hermitian photonic systems with spatially controlled gain and loss.}, author = {Salamin, Yannick and Yang, Gaojie and Mills, Brian and Grossi Fonseca, André and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Yang, Quansan and Beroz, Justin and Kooi, Steven E. and de Miguel Comella, Marc and Mak, Kiran and Vaidya, Sachin and Oran, Daniel and Swain, Corban and Sun, Yi and Maayani, Shai and Sloan, Jamison and Amin Elfadil Elawad, Amel and Lopez, Josue J. and Boyden, Edward S. and Soljačić, Marin}, issn = {2047-7538}, journal = {Light: Science & Applications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Three-dimensional nanophotonics with spatially modulated optical properties}}, doi = {10.1038/s41377-025-02166-5}, volume = {15}, year = {2026}, } @article{21555, abstract = {Spin-polarized electron beam sources enable studies of spin-dependent electric and magnetic effects at the nanoscale. We propose a method of creating spin-polarized electrons on an integrated photonics chip by laser-driven nanophotonic fields. A two-stage interaction separated by a free-space drift length is proposed, where the first stage and drift length introduces spin-dependent characteristics into the probability distribution of the electron wave function. The second stage uses an adjusted optical near field to rotate the spin states utilizing the spin-dependent wave-packet distribution to produce electrons with high ensemble average spin expectation values. This platform provides an integrated and compact method to generate spin-polarized electrons, implementable with millimeter scale chips and tabletop lasers.}, author = {Woodahl, Clarisse and Murillo, Melanie and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Karnieli, Aviv and Miller, David A. B. and Solgaard, Olav}, issn = {1079-7114}, journal = {Physical Review Letters}, number = {6}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{On-chip laser-driven free-electron spin polarizer}}, doi = {10.1103/3c1m-d3hh}, volume = {136}, year = {2026}, } @inproceedings{21581, abstract = {We demonstrate that nanophotonic scintillators based on three-dimensional (3D) photonic crystals can overcome the longstanding tradeoff between spatial resolution and light yield in X-ray imaging. By engineering supercollimation, which is light propagation without angular spreading, within the emission spectrum, we strongly shape the angular emission profile of the scintillator, dramatically reducing blurring at large thicknesses. Our theoretical and numerical results, using realistic scintillator and photonic crystal parameters, show that this improves the Detector Quantum Efficiency (DQE) by up to several orders of magnitude at high spatial frequencies, enabling sharper images and reduced X-ray dosages. This approach offers a new path toward high-resolution, low-dose X-ray imaging systems.}, author = {Vaidya, Sachin and Choi, Seou and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Soljačić, Marin}, booktitle = {High Contrast Metastructures XV}, location = {San Francisco, CA, United States}, publisher = {SPIE}, title = {{Supercollimating photonic crystal scintillators}}, doi = {10.1117/12.3079431}, volume = {PC13910}, year = {2026}, } @article{21583, abstract = {Non-Hermiticity naturally arises in physical systems that exchange energy with their environment. The presence of non-Hermiticity leads to many topological physics phenomena and device applications. In the non-Hermitian energy band theory, the foundation of these physics and applications, both energies and wave vectors take complex values. The energy bands thus become a Riemann surface, and such an energy-band Riemann surface underlies all important signatures of non-Hermitian topology. Despite a long history and recent theoretical interests, the energy-band Riemann surface has not been experimentally studied. Here, we provide a photonic observation of the energy-band Riemann surface of a non-Hermitian system. This is achieved by a tunable imaginary gauge transformation in photonic synthetic frequency dimensions. From measured topologies of the Riemann surface, we reveal the complex-energy winding, the open-boundary-condition spectrum, the generalized Brillouin zone, and the branch points. Our findings demonstrate a unified framework in the studies of diverse effects in non-Hermitian topological physics through an experimental observation of energy-band Riemann surfaces.}, author = {Cheng, Dali and Wang, Heming and Zhong, Janet and Lustig, Eran and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Fan, Shanhui}, issn = {2375-2548}, journal = {Science Advances}, number = {12}, publisher = {American Association for the Advancement of Science}, title = {{Experimental observation of energy-band Riemann surface}}, doi = {10.1126/sciadv.aec8239}, volume = {12}, year = {2026}, } @phdthesis{21651, abstract = {Blockchains enable distributed consensus in permissionless settings, where participants are unknown, dynamically changing, and do not trust each other. While Bitcoin, based on Proof-of-Work (PoW), was the first protocol in this model, significant research has focused on permissionless protocols using alternative physical resources, specifically Proof-of-Space (PoSpace) and Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs). This thesis investigates the theoretical limits and design space of longest-chain protocols in the fully permissionless and dynamically available settings using these three resources. First, we address the feasibility of blockchains relying solely on storage as a resource. We prove a fundamental impossibility result: there exists no secure longest-chain protocol based exclusively on Proof-of-Space in the fully permissionless or dynamically available settings. Further, we quantify the adversarial capabilities required to execute a double-spend attack. Our result formally justifies the necessity of coupling PoSpace with time-dependent primitives (such as VDFs) or to move to less permissive settings (quasi-permissionless or permissioned) to ensure security. Second, we generalize Nakamoto-like heaviest chain consensus to protocols utilizing combinations of multiple physical resources. We analyze chain selection rules governed by a weight function Γ(S, V,W), which assigns weight to blocks based on recorded Space (S), VDF speed (V ), and Work (W). We provide a complete classification of secure weight functions, proving that a weight function is secure against private double-spend attacks if and only if it is homogeneous in the timed resources (V,W) and sub-homogeneous in S. This framework unifies existing protocols like Bitcoin and Chia under a single theoretical model and provides a powerful tool for designing new longest-chain blockchains from a mix of physical resources.}, author = {Baig, Mirza Ahad}, isbn = {978-3-99078-078-7}, issn = {2663-337X}, publisher = {Institute of Science and Technology Austria}, title = {{On secure chain selection rules from physical resources in a permissionless setting}}, doi = {10.15479/AT-ISTA-21651}, year = {2026}, } @article{21657, abstract = {We compare three global kilometer-scale models (ICON, IFS and NICAM) to clarify the advantages and challenges of high-resolution global weather and climate modeling, using different approaches to represent convection, from fully parameterized to fully explicit. Our analysis focuses on tropical precipitation characteristics spanning a wide range of spatio-temporal scales—including the diurnal cycle, extreme precipitation, convective organization, and the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO)—along with interactions between convection and the thermodynamic environment. All three models commonly show weaker convective organization with smaller precipitation cells than observed, though the strength of the bias varies by model. This diversity is introduced by differences in the representation of (a) convective initiation affected by the convective sensitivity to moisture and (b) tropospheric moistening associated with deep convection. Models with stronger thermodynamic-convection coupling increase environmental moisture near convection, thereby enhancing convective organization. This has important upscale effects on the MJO; while IFS and NICAM capture its eastward propagation well, ICON has difficulty reproducing it. The amplitudes and phases of precipitation diurnal cycles over land show much greater disagreement among the models than over ocean, influenced by how convection is initiated. Biases in rain evaporation and cold pool formation hinder the propagation of mesoscale convection, leading to errors such as the misrepresentation of nocturnal convection moving off the coast of Sumatra in IFS and ICON. These results highlight the importance of thermodynamic-convection coupling in realistically simulating tropical convection across scales. To improve this coupling, kilometer-scale models require better representation of the interaction between resolved convection and three-dimensional turbulent mixing.}, author = {Takasuka, Daisuke and Becker, Tobias and Bao, Jiawei}, issn = {1942-2466}, journal = {Journal of Advances in Modeling Earth Systems}, number = {3}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Precipitation characteristics and thermodynamic-convection coupling in global kilometer-scale simulations}}, doi = {10.1029/2025MS005343}, volume = {18}, year = {2026}, } @article{21658, abstract = {Dipolar (ℓ = 1) mixed modes have revealed a surprisingly weak differential rotation between the core and the envelope of evolved solar-like stars. Quadrupolar (ℓ = 2) mixed modes also contain information regarding internal dynamics but are very rarely characterised due to their low amplitude and the challenging identification of adjacent or overlapping rotationally split multiplets affected by near-degeneracy effects. We aim to extend the broadly used asymptotic seismic diagnostics beyond ℓ = 1 mixed modes by developing an analogue asymptotic description of ℓ = 2 mixed modes while explicitly accounting for near-degeneracy effects that distort their rotational multiplets. We have derived a new asymptotic formulation of near-degenerate mixed ℓ = 2 modes that describes off-diagonal terms representing the interaction between modes of adjacent radial orders. This formalism, expressed directly in the mixed-mode basis, provides analytical expressions for the near-degeneracy effects. We implemented the formalism within a global Bayesian mode-fitting framework for a direct fit of all ℓ = 0, 1, 2 modes in the power spectrum density. We were able to asymptotically model the asymmetric rotational splitting present in various radial orders of ℓ = 2 modes observed in young red giant stars without the need for any numerical stellar modelling. We applied our formalism to the Kepler target KIC 7341231, and it yielded core and envelope rotation rates consistent with previous numerical modelling while providing improved constraints from the global and model-independent approach. We also characterised the new target, KIC 8179973, measuring its rotation rate and mixed-mode parameters for the first time. As our framework relies on a direct global fit, it allows for much better precision on the asteroseismic parameters and rotation rate estimates than standard methods, yielding better constraints for rotation inversions. We have placed the first observational constraints on the asymptotic ℓ = 2 mixed-mode parameters (ΔΠ2, q2, and εg, 2), thus paving the way towards the use of asymptotic seismology beyond ℓ = 1 mixed modes.}, author = {Liagre, Bastien Raymond Bernard and Desai, Aayush A and Einramhof, Lukas and Bugnet, Lisa Annabelle}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy and Astrophysics}, publisher = {EDP Sciences}, title = {{Near-degeneracy effects in quadrupolar mixed modes: From an asymptotic description to data fitting}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202558023}, volume = {707}, year = {2026}, } @article{21659, abstract = {The recent detection of solar equatorial Rossby waves has renewed interest in the study of gravito-inertial waves propagating in the convective envelope of solar-type stars. In particular, the ability of these envelope gravito-inertial modes to couple with those trapped in the radiative interior could open up new opportunities for probing the deep-layer dynamics of solar-type stars. The possibility for such a coupling to occur is particularly favoured among pre-main-sequence (PMS) solar-type stars. Indeed, due to the contraction of the protostellar object, they are able to reach high rotation frequencies before nuclear reactions are ignited and magnetic braking becomes the driving mechanism for their rotational evolution. In this work, we studied the coupling between the envelope inertial waves and the radiative interior g modes in PMS stars, focussing on the case of prograde dipolar modes. We considered the cases of 0.5 M⊙ and 1 M⊙ PMS models, each with three different scenarios of rotational evolution. We show that for stars that have formed with a sufficient amount of angular momentum, this coupling can occur in frequency ranges that are accessible to space-borne photometry, creating inertial dips in the period spacing pattern. Using an asymptotic analysis, we characterised the shape of these inertial dips to show that they depend on rotation and on the stiffness of the convective-radiative interface.}, author = {Breton, S. N. and Pezzotti, C. and Mathis, S. and Bugnet, Lisa Annabelle and Di Mauro, M. P. and Joergensen, J. and Zwintz, K. and Lanza, A. F.}, issn = {1432-0746}, journal = {Astronomy & Astrophysics}, publisher = {Wiley}, title = {{Core-envelope coupling of gravito-inertial waves in pre-main-sequence solar-type stars}}, doi = {10.1051/0004-6361/202659309}, volume = {707}, year = {2026}, } @article{21660, abstract = {Kapitza-Dirac scattering, the diffraction of matter waves from a standing light field, is widely utilized in ultracold gases, but its behavior in the strongly interacting regime is an open question. Here, we develop a numerically exact two-body description of Kapitza-Dirac scattering for two contact-interacting atoms in a one-dimensional harmonic trap subjected to a pulsed optical lattice, enabling us to obtain the numerically exact dynamics. We map how interaction strength, lattice depth, lattice wave number, and pulse duration reshape the diffraction pattern, leading to an interaction-dependent population redistribution in real and momentum space. By comparing the exact dynamics to an impulsive sudden-approximation description, we delineate the parameter regimes where it remains accurate and those, notably at strong attraction and small lattice wave number, where it fails. Our results provide a controlled few-body benchmark for interacting Kapitza-Dirac scattering and quantitative guidance for Kapitza-Dirac-based probes of ultracold atomic systems.}, author = {Becker, A. and Koutentakis, Georgios and Schmelcher, P.}, issn = {2643-1564}, journal = {Physical Review Research}, publisher = {American Physical Society}, title = {{Two-body Kapitza-Dirac scattering of one-dimensional ultracold atoms}}, doi = {10.1103/rdsn-stlq}, volume = {8}, year = {2026}, } @article{21661, abstract = {Model checking undiscounted reachability and expected-reward properties on Markov decision processes (MDPs) are key for the verification of systems that act under uncertainty. Popular algorithms are policy iteration and variants of value iteration; in tool competitions, most participants rely on the latter. These algorithms generally need worst-case exponential time. However, the problem can equally be formulated as a linear programme, solvable in polynomial time. In this paper, we give a detailed overview of today’s state-of-the-art algorithms for MDP model checking with a focus on performance and correctness. We highlight their fundamental differences, and describe various optimizations and implementation variants. We experimentally compare floating-point and exact-arithmetic implementations of all algorithms on three benchmark sets using two probabilistic model checkers. Our results show that (optimistic) value iteration is a sensible default, but other algorithms are preferable in specific settings. This paper thereby provides a guide for MDP verification practitioners—tool builders and users alike.}, author = {Hartmanns, Arnd and Junges, Sebastian and Quatmann, Tim and Weininger, Maximilian}, issn = {1433-2787}, journal = {International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer}, keywords = {Quantitative model checking, Markov decision process, Linear programming, Value iteration, Policy iteration}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{The revised practitioner’s guide to MDP model checking algorithms}}, doi = {10.1007/s10009-026-00848-y}, year = {2026}, } @unpublished{21699, abstract = {Recent research in nanophotonics for scintillation-based imaging has demonstrated promising improvements in scintillator performance. In parallel, advances in nanophotonics have enabled wavefront control through metasurfaces, a capability that has transformed fields such as microscopy by allowing tailored control of optical propagation. This naturally raises the following question, which we address in this perspective: can wavefront-control strategies be leveraged to improve scintillation-based imaging? To answer this question, we explore nanophotonic- and metasurface-enabled wavefront control in scintillators to mitigate image blurring arising from their intrinsically diffuse light emission. While depth-of-field extension in scintillation faces fundamental limitations absent in microscopy, this approach reveals promising avenues, including stacked scintillators, selective spatial-frequency enhancement, and X-ray energy-dependent imaging. These results clarify the key distinctions in adapting wavefront engineering to scintillation and its potential to enable tailored detection strategies.}, author = {Chen, Joshua and Vaidya, Sachin and Pajovic, Simo and Choi, Seou and Michaels, William and Louis Martin-Monier, Louis Martin-Monier and Hu, Juejun and Cogswell, Carol and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Soljačić, Marin}, booktitle = {arXiv}, title = {{Wavefront engineering for scintillation-based imaging}}, doi = {10.48550/arXiv.2601.09830}, year = {2026}, }