Publications

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is a fundamental model, which is drawing increasing interest because of recent advances in experimental and theoretical studies of 2D materials. Current understanding of the ground state of the 2DEG relies on quantum Monte Carlo calculations, based on variational comparisons of different ansatze for different phases. We use a single variational ansatz, a general backflow-type wave function using a message-passing neural quantum state architecture, for a unified description across the entire density range. The variational optimization consistently leads to lower ground-state energies than previous best results. Transition into a Wigner crystal (WC) phase occurs automatically at rs = 37 +/- 1, a density lower than currently believed. Between the liquid and WC phases, the same ansatz and variational search strongly suggest the existence of intermediate states in a broad range of densities, with enhanced short-range nematic spin correlations.

The exploration of quantum phases in moiré systems has drawn intense experimental and theoretical efforts. The realization of honeycomb symmetry has been a recent focus. The combination of strong interaction and honeycomb symmetry can lead to exotic electronic states such as fractional Chern insulator, unconventional superconductor, and quantum spin liquid. Accurate computations in such systems, with reliable treatment of strong long-ranged Coulomb interaction and approaching the large system sizes to extract thermodynamic phases, are mostly missing. We study the two-dimensional electron gas on a honeycomb moiré lattice at quarter filling, using fixed-phase diffusion Monte Carlo. The ground state phases of this important model are determined in the parameter regime relevant to current experiments. With increasing moiré potential, the systems transitions from a paramagnetic metal to an itinerant ferromagnetic semimetal and then a charge-density-wave insulator.

Two-particle response functions are a centerpiece of both experimental and theoretical quantum many-body physics. Yet, due to their size and discontinuity structure, they are challenging to handle numerically. Recently, two advances were made to tackle this problem: first, the overcomplete intermediate representation (OIR), which provides a highly efficient compression of Green's functions in imaginary frequency, and second, partial spectral functions (PSFs), which allow for an efficient evaluation in real frequency. We show that there is a two-to-one correspondence between PSFs and OIR coefficients and exploit this fact to construct the OIR for three-or-more-particle propagators. We then use OIR to fit and compress imaginary-frequency data obtained from the numerical renormalization group (NRG), reaching a compression ratio of more than 400. Finally, we attempt to match the OIR data to partial Green's functions from this http URL to the overcompleteness, we achieve only qualitative agreement.

The exploration of quantum phases in moiré systems has drawn intense experimental and theoretical efforts. The realization of honeycomb symmetry has been a recent focus. The combination of strong interaction and honeycomb symmetry can lead to exotic electronic states such as fractional Chern insulator, unconventional superconductor, and quantum spin liquid. Accurate computations in such systems, with reliable treatment of strong long-ranged Coulomb interaction and approaching the large system sizes to extract thermodynamic phases, are mostly missing. We study the two-dimensional electron gas on a honeycomb moiré lattice at quarter filling, using fixed-phase diffusion Monte Carlo. The ground state phases of this important model are determined in the parameter regime relevant to current experiments. With increasing moiré potential, the systems transitions from a paramagnetic metal to an itinerant ferromagnetic semimetal and then a charge-density-wave insulator.

The two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) is a fundamental model, which is drawing increasing interest because of recent advances in experimental and theoretical studies of 2D materials. Current understanding of the ground state of the 2DEG relies on quantum Monte Carlo calculations, based on variational comparisons of different ansatze for different phases. We use a single variational ansatz, a general backflow-type wave function using a message-passing neural quantum state architecture, for a unified description across the entire density range. The variational optimization consistently leads to lower ground-state energies than previous best results. Transition into a Wigner crystal (WC) phase occurs automatically at rs = 37 +/- 1, a density lower than currently believed. Between the liquid and WC phases, the same ansatz and variational search strongly suggest the existence of intermediate states in a broad range of densities, with enhanced short-range nematic spin correlations.

Neurons in primate visual cortex (area V1) are tuned for spatial frequency, in a manner that depends on their position in the visual field. Several studies have examined this dependency using fMRI, reporting preferred spatial frequencies (tuning curve peaks) of V1 voxels as a function of eccentricity, but their results differ by as much as two octaves, presumably due to differences in stimuli, measurements, and analysis methodology. Here, we characterize spatial frequency tuning at a millimeter resolution within human primary visual cortex, across stimulus orientation and visual field locations. We measured fMRI responses to a novel set of stimuli, constructed as sinusoidal gratings in log-polar coordinates, which include circular, radial, and spiral geometries. For each individual stimulus, the local spatial frequency varies inversely with eccentricity, and for any given location in the visual field, the full set of stimuli span a broad range of spatial frequencies and orientations. Over the measured range of eccentricities, the preferred spatial frequency is well-fit by a function that varies as the inverse of the eccentricity plus a small constant. We also find small but systematic effects of local stimulus orientation, defined in both absolute coordinates and relative to visual field location. Specifically, peak spatial frequency is higher for tangential than radial orientations and for horizontal than vertical orientations.

We introduce an efficient numerical method for second-order linear ODEs whose solution may vary between highly oscillatory and slowly changing over the solution interval. In oscillatory regions the solution is generated via a nonoscillatory phase function that obeys the nonlinear Riccati equation. We propose a defect correction iteration that gives an asymptotic series for such a phase function; this is numerically approximated on a Chebyshev grid with a small number of nodes. For analytic coefficients we prove that each iteration, up to a certain maximum number, reduces the residual by a factor of order of the local frequency. The algorithm adapts both the stepsize and the choice of method, switching to a conventional spectral collocation method away from oscillatory regions. In numerical experiments we find that our proposal outperforms other state-of-the-art oscillatory solvers, most significantly at low to intermediate frequencies and at low tolerances, where it may use up to \(10^6\) times fewer function evaluations. Even in high-frequency regimes, our implementation is on average 10 times faster than other specialized solvers.

Topological semimetals with massless Dirac and Weyl fermions represent the forefront of quantum materials research. In two dimensions, a peculiar class of fermions that are massless in one direction and massive in the perpendicular direction was predicted fifteen years ago. These highly exotic quasiparticles - the semi-Dirac fermions - ignited intense theoretical interest but remain undetected. Using magneto-optical spectroscopy, we demonstrate the defining feature of semi-Dirac fermions - B

Studies in Drosophila were essential in delineating the highly conserved RAS signaling pathway. Indeed, some pathway components, such as Son of sevenless or Corkscrew, were named after mutant phenotypes in flies. Here, we discuss how Drosophila, with its ever-expanding arsenal of precise genetic manipulations and quantitative phenotypic assays, can be harnessed for investigating how RAS signaling is genetically deregulated in human diseases. The general approach is based on analyzing how disease mutations affect well-studied RAS-dependent developmental processes. Focusing on our work in the fly embryo and larval trachea, we illustrate this approach for missense mutations in MEK, a central kinase in the RAS cascade, which is deregulated in developmental abnormalities and cancers. The established approach provides clear insights into genotype/phenotype associations and can be extended to other signaling systems.

Ice in nature is dynamic at all scales, from glacial sheets that deform and flow to icebergs that melt down and capsize [1,2]. For the latter, much of the ice and much of the action is unseen beneath the surface [3–5]. Here we study laboratory-scale icebergs that freely float and melt, where direct visualizations show interesting and interconnected changes in the shape of the ice, its posture, and the flows of the surrounding water.

Our experiments reveal that free-floating ice persistently melts into unstable geometries, causing it to repeatedly capsize. Figure 1 shows the shape progression for a cylindrical piece of ice floating at the surface of room temperature water. It locks to an orientation, melts in place for several minutes, then abruptly rotates to a new posture and again locks. This process repeats for about 10 to 15 flips over the 30 minutes it takes to melt away. The photographs sample some of the locked orientations. Figure 2 displays the flows of the melt waters beneath the iceberg, where the two photos capture views along the axis and from the side, respectively. Below we describe the specialized techniques that enabled these images.