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Galactic center γ-ray excess in hidden sector DM models with dark gauge symmetries: local Z{sub 3} symmetry as an example
We show that hidden sector dark matter (DM) models with local dark gauge symmetries make a natural playground for the possible γ-ray excess from the galactic center (GC). We first discuss in detail the GC γ-ray excess in a scalar dark matter (DM) model with local Z{sub 3} symmetry which was recently proposed by the present authors. Within this model, scalar DM with mass 30–70 GeV is allowed due to the newly-opened (semi-)annihilation channels of a DM pair into dark Higgs ϕ and/or dark photon Z′ pair, and the γ-ray spectrum from the GC can be fit within this model. Then we argue that the GC gamma ray excess can be easily accommodated within hidden sector dark matter models where DM is stabilized by local gauge symmetries, due to the presence of dark Higgs (and also dark photon for Abelian dark gauge symmetry)
Emergent Low-Symmetry Phases and Large Property Enhancements in Ferroelectric KNbO 3 Bulk Crystals [Emergent Low-Symmetry Phases with Large Property Enhancement in Ferroelectric KNbO 3 Bulk Crystals]
The design of new or enhanced functionality in materials is traditionally viewed as requiring the discovery of new chemical compositions through synthesis. Large property enhancements may however also be hidden within already well-known materials, when their structural symmetry is deviated from equilibrium through a small local strain or field. Here, the discovery of enhanced material properties associated with a new metastable phase of monoclinic symmetry within bulk KNbO 3 is reported. This phase is found to coexist with the nominal orthorhombic phase at room temperature, and is both induced by and stabilized with local strains generated by a network of ferroelectric domain walls. While the local microstructural shear strain involved is only ≈0.017%, the concurrent symmetry reduction results in an optical second harmonic generation response that is over 550% higher at room temperature. Moreover, the meandering walls of the low-symmetry domains also exhibit enhanced electrical conductivity on the order of 1 S m -1 . In conclusion, this discovery reveals a potential new route to local engineering of significant property enhancements and conductivity through symmetry lowering in ferroelectric crystals.
Symmetry of reentrant tetragonal phase in Ba 1 - x Na x Fe 2 As 2 : Magnetic versus orbital ordering mechanism
Magnetostructural phase transitions in Ba 1-x A x Fe 2 As 2 (A = K, Na) materials are discussed for both magnetically and orbitally driven mechanisms, using a symmetry analysis formulated within the Landau theory of phase transitions. Both mechanisms predict identical orthorhombic space-group symmetries for the nematic and magnetic phases observed over much of the phase diagram, but they predict different tetragonal space-group symmetries for the newly discovered reentrant tetragonal phase in Ba 1-x Na x Fe 2 As 2 (x similar to 0.24-0.28). In a magnetic scenario, magnetic order with moments along the c axis, as found experimentally, does not allow any type of orbital order, but in an orbital scenario, we have determined two possible orbital patterns, specified by P4/mnc1' and I4221' space groups, which do not require atomic displacements relative to the parent I4/mmm1' symmetry and, in consequence, are indistinguishable in conventional diffraction experiments. We demonstrate that the three possible space groups are, however, distinct in resonant x-ray Bragg diffraction patterns created by Templeton & Templeton scattering. This provides an experimental method of distinguishing between magnetic and orbital models.
Coexistence of epitaxial lattice rotation and twinning tilt induced by surface symmetry mismatch
Combined x-ray diffraction and first-principles studies of various epitaxial rutile-type metal dioxide films on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) substrates reveal an unexpected rectangle-on-parallelogram heteroepitaxy. Unique matching of particular lattice spacings and crystal angles between the oxygen sublattices of Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001) and the film(100) result in coexisted crystal rotation and lattice twinning inside the film. We demonstrate that, besides symmetry and lattice mismatch, angular mismatch along a specific crystal direction is also an important factor determining epitaxy. A generalized theorem has been proposed to explain epitaxial behaviors for tetragonal metal dioxides on Al{sub 2}O{sub 3}(0001).
Self;#8208;Assembly of a 3D DNA Crystal Structure with Rationally Designed Six;#8208;Fold Symmetry
Abstract not provided
Symmetry breaking indication for supergravity inflation in light of the Planck 2015
Supergravity (SUGRA) theories with exact global U(1) symmetry or shift symmetry in Kähler potential provide natural frameworks for inflation. However, quadratic inflation is disfavoured by the new results on primordial tensor fluctuations from the Planck Collaboration. To be consistent with the new Planck data, we point out that the explicit symmetry breaking is needed, and study these two SUGRA inflation in detail. For SUGRA inflation with global U(1) symmetry, the symmetry breaking term leads to a trigonometric modulation on inflaton potential. Coefficient of the U(1) symmetry breaking term is of order 10{sup −2}, which is sufficient large to improve the inflationary predictions while its higher order corrections are negligible. Such models predict sizeable tensor fluctuations and highly agree with the Planck results. In particular, the model with a linear U(1) symmetry breaking term predicts the tensor-to-scalar ratio around r∼0.01 and running spectral index α{sub s∼} −0.004, which comfortably fit with the Planck observations. For SUGRA inflation with breaking shift symmetry, the inflaton potential is modulated by an exponential factor. The modulated linear and quadratic models are consistent with the Planck observations. In both types of models the tensor-to-scalar ratio can be of order 10{sup −2}, which will be tested by the near future observations.
Symmetry Parameter Constraints from a Lower Bound on Neutron-matter Energy
We propose the existence of a lower bound on the energy of pure neutron matter (PNM) on the basis of unitary-gas considerations. We discuss its justification from experimental studies of cold atoms as well as from theoretical studies of neutron matter. We demonstrate that this bound results in limits to the density-dependent symmetry energy, which is the difference between the energies of symmetric nuclear matter and PNM. In particular, this bound leads to a lower limit to the volume symmetry energy parameter S {sub 0}. In addition, for assumed values of S {sub 0} above this minimum, this bound implies both upper and lower limits to the symmetry energy slope parameter L , which describes the lowest-order density dependence of the symmetry energy. A lower bound on neutron-matter incompressibility is also obtained. These bounds are found to be consistent with both recent calculations of the energies of PNM and constraints from nuclear experiments. Our results are significant because several equations of state that are currently used in astrophysical simulations of supernovae and neutron star mergers, as well as in nuclear physics simulations of heavy-ion collisions, have symmetry energy parameters that violate these bounds. Furthermore, below the nuclear saturation density, the bound on neutron-matter energies leads to a lower limit to the density-dependent symmetry energy, which leads to upper limits to the nuclear surface symmetry parameter and the neutron-star crust–core boundary. We also obtain a lower limit to the neutron-skin thicknesses of neutron-rich nuclei. Above the nuclear saturation density, the bound on neutron-matter energies also leads to an upper limit to the symmetry energy, with implications for neutron-star cooling via the direct Urca process.
Symmetry-Guided Synthesis of Highly Porous Metal-Organic Frameworks with Fluorite Topology
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Atomic-scale electronic structure of the cuprate d-symmetry form factor density wave state
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Symmetry-mode analysis for local structure investigations using pair distribution function data
Symmetry-adapted distortion modes provide a natural way of describing distorted structures derived from higher-symmetry parent phases. Structural refinements using symmetry-mode amplitudes as fit variables have been used for at least ten years in Rietveld refinements of the average crystal structure from diffraction data; more recently, this approach has also been used for investigations of the local structure using real-space pair distribution function (PDF) data. Here, the value of performing symmetry-mode fits to PDF data is further demonstrated through the successful application of this method to two topical materials: TiSe2, where a subtle but long-range structural distortion driven by the formation of a charge-density wave is detected, and MnTe, where a large but highly localized structural distortion is characterized in terms of symmetry-lowering displacements of the Te atoms. Here, the analysis is performed using fully open-source code within the DiffPy framework via two packages developed for this work: isopydistort, which provides a scriptable interface to the ISODISTORT web application for group theoretical calculations, and isopytools, which converts the ISODISTORT output into a DiffPy-compatible format for subsequent fitting and analysis. These developments expand the potential impact of symmetry-adapted PDF analysis by enabling high-throughput analysis and removing the need for any commercial software.
Symmetry breaking/symmetry preserving circuits and symmetry restoration on quantum computers
In this article, we discuss some aspects related to the symmetries of a quantum many-body problem when trying to treat it on a quantum computer. Several features related to symmetry conservation, symmetry breaking, and possible symmetry restoration are reviewed. After briefly discussing some of the standard symmetries relevant for many-particle systems, we discuss the advantage of encoding some symmetries directly in quantum ansätze, especially to reduce the quantum register size. It is, however, well-known that the use of symmetry-breaking states can also be a unique way to incorporate specific internal correlations when a spontaneous symmetry breaking occurs. These aspects are discussed in the quantum computing context. Ultimately, an accurate description of quantum systems can be achieved only when the initially broken symmetries are properly restored. We review several methods explored previously to perform symmetry restoration on a quantum computer, for instance, the ones based on symmetry filtering by quantum phase estimation and by an iterative independent set of Hadamard tests. We propose novel methods that pave the new directions to perform symmetry restoration, like those based on the purification of the state employing the linear combination of unitaries (LCU) approach.
Strongly broken Peccei-Quinn symmetry in the early Universe
We consider QCD axion models where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is badly broken by a larger amount in the past than in the present, in order to avoid the axion isocurvature problem. Specifically we study supersymmetric axion models where the Peccei-Quinn symmetry is dynamically broken by either hidden gauge interactions or the SU(3){sub c} strong interactions whose dynamical scales are temporarily enhanced by the dynamics of flat directions. The former scenario predicts a large amount of self-interacting dark radiation as the hidden gauge symmetry is weakly coupled in the present Universe. We also show that the observed amount of baryon asymmetry can be generated by the QCD axion dynamics via spontaneous baryogenesis. We briefly comment on the case in which the PQ symmetry is broken by a non-minimal coupling to gravity.
Expediting model-based optoacoustic reconstructions with tomographic symmetries
Purpose: Image quantification in optoacoustic tomography implies the use of accurate forward models of excitation, propagation, and detection of optoacoustic signals while inversions with high spatial resolution usually involve very large matrices, leading to unreasonably long computation times. The development of fast and memory efficient model-based approaches represents then an important challenge to advance on the quantitative and dynamic imaging capabilities of tomographic optoacoustic imaging. Methods: Herein, a method for simplification and acceleration of model-based inversions, relying on inherent symmetries present in common tomographic acquisition geometries, has been introduced. The method is showcased for the case of cylindrical symmetries by using polar image discretization of the time-domain optoacoustic forward model combined with efficient storage and inversion strategies. Results: The suggested methodology is shown to render fast and accurate model-based inversions in both numerical simulations andpost mortem small animal experiments. In case of a full-view detection scheme, the memory requirements are reduced by one order of magnitude while high-resolution reconstructions are achieved at video rate. Conclusions: By considering the rotational symmetry present in many tomographic optoacoustic imaging systems, the proposed methodology allows exploiting the advantages of model-based algorithms with feasible computational requirements and fast reconstruction times, so that its convenience and general applicability in optoacoustic imaging systems with tomographic symmetries is anticipated.
Application of symmetries to differential equations: symmetry reduction and solution transformation examples
In the following lecture notes, we provide an outline of what we mean by symmetries of differential equations and illustrate their utility in simplification of differential equations which may lead to solutions. Loosely, a symmetry of a differential equation is a local group of transformations acting on the space of independent and dependent variables that transform solutions of a differential equation to new solutions, i.e., if Δ(x,u,p)=0 denotes a differential equation with a solution prescribed by [x,u,p], then knowlege of a symmetry facilitates the attainment of a new solution, [$\tilde{x}$, $\tilde{u}$, $\tilde{p}$], such that Δ(x,u,p)=Δ($\tilde{x}$, $\tilde{u}$, $\tilde{p}$)=0. In Equations (1) and (2), x, u and p denote the independent variables, dependent variables and partial derivatives, respectively and the tildes denote the transformations. Equation (2) will subsequently be referred to as the symmetry criterion. We can apply the knowlede of the existence of a symmetry in two ways: 1) If not solution is known apriori, the symmetry can be applied to simplify the differential equation through the method of symmetry reduction. Often, the resultant simplification may enable a solution to be determined; 2) If we already possess a solution to a different equation, knowledge of an admissible symmetry enables us to generate new solutions.
Instability of steady-state mixed-state symmetry-protected topological order to strong-to-weak spontaneous symmetry breaking
Recent experimental progress in controlling open quantum systems enables the pursuit of mixed-state nonequilibrium quantum phases. We investigate whether open quantum systems hosting mixed-state symmetry-protected topological states as steady states retain this property under symmetric perturbations. Focusing on the decohered cluster state – a mixed-state symmetry-protected topological state protected by a combined strong and weak symmetry – we construct a parent Lindbladian that hosts it as a steady state. This Lindbladian can be mapped onto exactly solvable reaction-diffusion dynamics, even in the presence of certain perturbations, allowing us to solve the parent Lindbladian in detail and reveal previously-unknown steady states. Using both analytical and numerical methods, we find that typical symmetric perturbations cause strong-to-weak spontaneous symmetry breaking at arbitrarily small perturbations, destabilize the steady-state mixed-state symmetry-protected topological order. However, when perturbations introduce only weak symmetry defects, the steady-state mixed-state symmetry-protected topological order remains stable. Additionally, we construct a quantum channel which replicates the essential physics of the Lindbladian and can be efficiently simulated using only Clifford gates, Pauli measurements, and feedback.
Discrete symmetries in Heterotic/F-theory duality and mirror symmetry
We study aspects of Heterotic/F-theory duality for compacti cations with Abelian discrete gauge symmetries. We consider F-theory compacti cations on genus-one bered Calabi-Yau manifolds with n-sections, associated with the Tate-Shafarevich group Z n . Such models are obtained by studying rst a speci c toric set-up whose associated Heterotic vector bundle has structure group Z n . By employing a conjectured Heterotic/Ftheory mirror symmetry we construct dual geometries of these original toric models, where in the stable degeneration limit we obtain a discrete gauge symmetry of order two and three, for compacti cations to six dimensions. We provide explicit constructions of mirrorpairs for symmetric examples with Z 2 and Z 3 , in six dimensions. The Heterotic models with symmetric discrete symmetries are related in eld theory to a Higgsing of Heterotic models with two symmetric abelian U(1) gauge factors, where due to the Stuckelberg mechanism only a diagonal U(1) factor remains massless, and thus after Higgsing only a diagonal discrete symmetry of order n is present in the Heterotic models and detected via Heterotic/F-theory duality. These constructions also provide further evidence for the conjectured mirror symmetry in Heterotic/F-theory at the level of brations with torsional sections and those with multi-sections.