Realizing the symmetry-protected Haldane phase in Fermi-Hubbard ladders.

Topology in quantum many-body systems has profoundly changed our understanding of quantum phases of matter. The model that has played an instrumental role in elucidating these effects is the antiferromagnetic spin-1 Haldane chain1,2. Its ground state is a disordered state, with symmetry-protected fourfold-degenerate edge states due to fractional spin excitations. In the bulk, it is characterized by vanishing two-point spin correlations, gapped excitations and a characteristic non-local order parameter3,4. More recently it has been understood that the Haldane chain forms a specific example of a more general classification scheme of symmetry-protected topological phases of matter, which is based on ideas connected to quantum information and entanglement5-7. Here, we realize a finite-temperature version of such a topological Haldane phase with Fermi-Hubbard ladders in an ultracold-atom quantum simulator. We directly reveal both edge and bulk properties of the system through the use of single-site and particle-resolved measurements, as well as non-local correlation functions. Continuously changing the Hubbard interaction strength of the system enables us to investigate the robustness of the phase to charge (density) fluctuations far from the regime of the Heisenberg model, using a novel correlator.

A subradiant optical mirror formed by a single structured atomic layer.

Versatile interfaces with strong and tunable light-matter interactions are essential for quantum science1 because they enable mapping of quantum properties between light and matter1. Recent studies2-10 have proposed a method of controlling light-matter interactions using the rich interplay of photon-mediated dipole-dipole interactions in structured subwavelength arrays of quantum emitters. However, a key aspect of this approach-the cooperative enhancement of the light-matter coupling strength and the directional mirror reflection of the incoming light using an array of quantum emitters-has not yet been experimentally demonstrated. Here we report the direct observation of the cooperative subradiant response of a two-dimensional square array of atoms in an optical lattice. We observe a spectral narrowing of the collective atomic response well below the quantum-limited decay of individual atoms into free space. Through spatially resolved spectroscopic measurements, we show that the array acts as an efficient mirror formed by a single monolayer of a few hundred atoms. By tuning the atom density in the array and changing the ordering of the particles, we are able to control the cooperative response of the array and elucidate the effect of the interplay of spatial order and dipolar interactions on the collective properties of the ensemble. Bloch oscillations of the atoms outside the array enable us to dynamically control the reflectivity of the atomic mirror. Our work demonstrates efficient optical metamaterial engineering based on structured ensembles of atoms4,8,9 and paves the way towards controlling many-body physics with light5,6,11 and light-matter interfaces at the single-quantum level7,10.

Imaging magnetic polarons in the doped Fermi-Hubbard model.

Polarons-electronic charge carriers 'dressed' by a local polarization of the background environment-are among the most fundamental quasiparticles in interacting many-body systems, and emerge even at the level of a single dopant1. In the context of the two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard model, polarons are predicted to form around charged dopants in an antiferromagnetic background in the low-doping regime, close to the Mott insulating state2-7; this prediction is supported by macroscopic transport and spectroscopy measurements in materials related to high-temperature superconductivity8. Nonetheless, a direct experimental observation of the internal structure of magnetic polarons is lacking. Here we report the microscopic real-space characterization of magnetic polarons in a doped Fermi-Hubbard system, enabled by the single-site spin and density resolution of our ultracold-atom quantum simulator. We reveal the dressing of doublons by a local reduction-and even sign reversal-of magnetic correlations, which originates from the competition between kinetic and magnetic energy in the system. The experimentally observed polaron signatures are found to be consistent with an effective string model at finite temperature7. We demonstrate that delocalization of the doublon is a necessary condition for polaron formation, by comparing this setting with a scenario in which a doublon is pinned to a lattice site. Our work could facilitate the study of interactions between polarons, which may lead to collective behaviour, such as stripe formation, as well as the microscopic exploration of the fate of polarons in the pseudogap and 'bad metal' phases.

Author Correction: Direct observation of incommensurate magnetism in Hubbard chains.

In this Letter, the affiliation for Christian Gross should have been 'Max-Planck-Institut für Quantenoptik, Garching, Germany' instead of 'Fakultät für Physik, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich, Germany'; this has been corrected online.

Direct observation of incommensurate magnetism in Hubbard chains.

The interplay between magnetism and doping is at the origin of exotic strongly correlated electronic phases and can lead to novel forms of magnetic ordering. One example is the emergence of incommensurate spin-density waves, which have wavevectors that do not belong to the reciprocal lattice. In one dimension this effect is a hallmark of Luttinger liquid theory, which also describes the low-energy physics of the Hubbard model1. Here we use a quantum simulator that uses ultracold fermions in an optical lattice2-8 to directly observe such incommensurate spin correlations in doped and spin-imbalanced Hubbard chains using fully spin- and density-resolved quantum gas microscopy. Doping is found to induce a linear change in the spin-density wavevector, in excellent agreement with predictions from Luttinger theory. For non-zero polarization we observe a reduction in the wavevector with magnetization, as expected from the antiferromagnetic Heisenberg model in a magnetic field. We trace the microscopic-scale origin of these incommensurate correlations to holes, doublons (double occupancies) and excess spins, which act as delocalized domain walls for the antiferromagnetic order. In addition, by inducing interchain coupling we observe fundamentally different spin correlations around doublons and suppression of incommensurate magnetism at finite (low) temperature in the two-dimensional regime9. Our results demonstrate how access to the full counting statistics of all local degrees of freedom can be used to study fundamental phenomena in strongly correlated many-body physics.

Vitality of autologous retromolar bone grafts for alveolar ridge augmentation after a 3-months healing period: A prospective histomorphometrical analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The incorporation of retromolar bone grafts used for alveolar ridge augmentation is not well understood. This prospective observational study aims to supply histomorphometrical data from bone graft biopsies taken at the time of retrieval and after a 3-month healing period using patient-matched biopsies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In 17 patients, trephine biopsies of the graft were acquired at the time of graft retrieval and after a 3-month healing period. The biopsies were compared histomorphometrically regarding the number of osteocytes, appearance of osteocyte lacunae, quantity, surface area, and activity of the Haversian canals. RESULTS: All grafts appeared clinically stable after screw removal and 17 implants were placed. Histomorphometric analysis revealed no significant difference in the number of osteocytes (p = .413), osteocyte lacunae (p = .611), the ratio of filled/empty osteocyte lacunae (p = .467) and active Haversian canals (p = .495) between the biopsies retrieved after a 3-months healing period with those at the time of grafting. The only significant difference was noted in the mean surface area of the Haversian canals (p = .002). Specifically, the grafts post 3-month healing showed a significantly larger mean area (0.069 mm2) compared to the time of grafting (0.029 mm2). CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates, compared to other data, a high rate of vital structures in retromolar bone block grafts after 3 months of healing, exhibiting the same histological features in comparison to the biopsies from the native alveolar ridge. Standard histomorphometrical parameters, e.g., the amount of filled or empty osteocyte lacunae for the description of the vitality of the graft need to be reappraised.

Spatially Tunable Spin Interactions in Neutral Atom Arrays.

Analog quantum simulations with Rydberg atoms in optical tweezers routinely address strongly correlated many-body problems due to the hardware-efficient implementation of the Hamiltonian. Yet, their generality is limited, and flexible Hamiltonian-design techniques are needed to widen the scope of these simulators. Here we report on the realization of spatially tunable interactions for XYZ models implemented by two-color near-resonant coupling to Rydberg pair states. Our results demonstrate the unique opportunities of Rydberg dressing for Hamiltonian design in analog quantum simulators.

Prioritizing sequence variants in conserved non-coding elements in the chicken genome using chCADD.

The availability of genomes for many species has advanced our understanding of the non-protein-coding fraction of the genome. Comparative genomics has proven itself to be an invaluable approach for the systematic, genome-wide identification of conserved non-protein-coding elements (CNEs). However, for many non-mammalian model species, including chicken, our capability to interpret the functional importance of variants overlapping CNEs has been limited by current genomic annotations, which rely on a single information type (e.g. conservation). We here studied CNEs in chicken using a combination of population genomics and comparative genomics. To investigate the functional importance of variants found in CNEs we develop a ch(icken) Combined Annotation-Dependent Depletion (chCADD) model, a variant effect prediction tool first introduced for humans and later on for mouse and pig. We show that 73 Mb of the chicken genome has been conserved across more than 280 million years of vertebrate evolution. The vast majority of the conserved elements are in non-protein-coding regions, which display SNP densities and allele frequency distributions characteristic of genomic regions constrained by purifying selection. By annotating SNPs with the chCADD score we are able to pinpoint specific subregions of the CNEs to be of higher functional importance, as supported by SNPs found in these subregions are associated with known disease genes in humans, mice, and rats. Taken together, our findings indicate that CNEs harbor variants of functional significance that should be object of further investigation along with protein-coding mutations. We therefore anticipate chCADD to be of great use to the scientific community and breeding companies in future functional studies in chicken.

Realizing Distance-Selective Interactions in a Rydberg-Dressed Atom Array.

Measurement-based quantum computing relies on the rapid creation of large-scale entanglement in a register of stable qubits. Atomic arrays are well suited to store quantum information, and entanglement can be created using highly-excited Rydberg states. Typically, isolating pairs during gate operation is difficult because Rydberg interactions feature long tails at large distances. Here, we engineer distance-selective interactions that are strongly peaked in distance through off-resonant laser coupling of molecular potentials between Rydberg atom pairs. Employing quantum gas microscopy, we verify the dressed interactions by observing correlated phase evolution using many-body Ramsey interferometry. We identify atom loss and coupling to continuum modes as a limitation of our present scheme and outline paths to mitigate these effects, paving the way towards the creation of large-scale entanglement.

Accelerated discovery of functional genomic variation in pigs.

The genotype-phenotype link is a major research topic in the life sciences but remains highly complex to disentangle. Part of the complexity arises from the number of genes contributing to the observed phenotype. Despite the vast increase of molecular data, pinpointing the causal variant underlying a phenotype of interest is still challenging. In this study, we present an approach to map causal variation and molecular pathways underlying important phenotypes in pigs. We prioritize variation by utilizing and integrating predicted variant impact scores (pCADD), functional genomic information, and associated phenotypes in other mammalian species. We demonstrate the efficacy of our approach by reporting known and novel causal variants, of which many affect non-coding sequences. Our approach allows the disentangling of the biology behind important phenotypes by accelerating the discovery of novel causal variants and molecular mechanisms affecting important phenotypes in pigs. This information on molecular mechanisms could be applicable in other mammalian species, including humans.

Distribution and Chemical Speciation of Exogenous Micro- and Nanoparticles in Inflamed Soft Tissue Adjacent to Titanium and Ceramic Dental Implants.

Degradation of the implant surface and particle release/formation as an inflammation catalyst mechanism is an emerging concept in dental medicine that may help explain the pathogenesis of peri-implantitis. The aim of the present study was a synchrotron-based characterization of micro- and nanosized implant-related particles in inflamed human tissues around titanium and ceramic dental implants that exhibited signs of peri-implantitis. Size, distribution, and chemical speciation of the exogenous micro- and nanosized particle content were evaluated using synchrotron µ-X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF), nano-XRF, and µ-X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES). Titanium particles, with variable speciation, were detected in all tissue sections associated with titanium implants. Ceramic particles were found in five out of eight tissue samples associated with ceramic implants. Particles ranged in size from micro- to nanoscale. The local density of both titanium and ceramic particles was calculated to be as high as ∼40 million particles/mm3. µ-XANES identified titanium in predominantly two different chemistries, including metallic and titanium dioxide (TiO2). The findings highlight the propensity for particle accumulation in the inflamed tissues around dental implants and will help in guiding toxicological studies to determine the biological significance of such exposures.

Ion Imaging via Long-Range Interaction with Rydberg Atoms.

We demonstrate imaging of ions in an atomic gas with ion-Rydberg-atom interaction induced absorption. This is made possible by utilizing a multiphoton electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) scheme and the extremely large electric polarizability of a Rydberg state with high orbital angular momentum. We process the acquired images to obtain the distribution of ion clouds and to spectroscopically investigate the effect of the ions on the EIT resonance. Furthermore, we show that our method can be employed to image the dynamics of ions in a time resolved way. As an example, we map out the avalanche ionization of a gas of Rydberg atoms. The minimal disruption and the flexibility offered by this imaging technique make it ideally suited for the investigation of cold hybrid ion-atom systems.

Robust Bilayer Charge Pumping for Spin- and Density-Resolved Quantum Gas Microscopy.

Quantum gas microscopy has emerged as a powerful new way to probe quantum many-body systems at the microscopic level. However, layered or efficient spin-resolved readout methods have remained scarce as they impose strong demands on the specific atomic species and constrain the simulated lattice geometry and size. Here we present a novel high-fidelity bilayer readout, which can be used for full spin- and density-resolved quantum gas microscopy of two-dimensional systems with arbitrary geometry. Our technique makes use of an initial Stern-Gerlach splitting into adjacent layers of a highly stable vertical superlattice and subsequent charge pumping to separate the layers by 21 µm. This separation enables independent high-resolution images of each layer. We benchmark our method by spin- and density-resolving two-dimensional Fermi-Hubbard systems. Our technique furthermore enables the access to advanced entropy engineering schemes, spectroscopic methods, or the realization of tunable bilayer systems.

pCADD: SNV prioritisation in Sus scrofa.

BACKGROUND: In animal breeding, identification of causative genetic variants is of major importance and high economical value. Usually, the number of candidate variants exceeds the number of variants that can be validated. One way of prioritizing probable candidates is by evaluating their potential to have a deleterious effect, e.g. by predicting their consequence. Due to experimental difficulties to evaluate variants that do not cause an amino-acid substitution, other prioritization methods are needed. For human genomes, the prediction of deleterious genomic variants has taken a step forward with the introduction of the combined annotation dependent depletion (CADD) method. In theory, this approach can be applied to any species. Here, we present pCADD (p for pig), a model to score single nucleotide variants (SNVs) in pig genomes. RESULTS: To evaluate whether pCADD captures sites with biological meaning, we used transcripts from miRNAs and introns, sequences from genes that are specific for a particular tissue, and the different sites of codons, to test how well pCADD scores differentiate between functional and non-functional elements. Furthermore, we conducted an assessment of examples of non-coding and coding SNVs, which are causal for changes in phenotypes. Our results show that pCADD scores discriminate between functional and non-functional sequences and prioritize functional SNVs, and that pCADD is able to score the different positions in a codon relative to their redundancy. Taken together, these results indicate that based on pCADD scores, regions with biological relevance can be identified and distinguished according to their rate of adaptation. CONCLUSIONS: We present the ability of pCADD to prioritize SNVs in the pig genome with respect to their putative deleteriousness, in accordance to the biological significance of the region in which they are located. We created scores for all possible SNVs, coding and non-coding, for all autosomes and the X chromosome of the pig reference sequence Sscrofa11.1, proposing a toolbox to prioritize variants and evaluate sequences to highlight new sites of interest to explain biological functions that are relevant to animal breeding.

Osteoclastic expression of higher-level regulators NFATc1 and BCL6 in medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy: a comparison with osteoradionecrosis and osteomyelitis.

BACKGROUND: With an increasing indication spectrum of antiresorptive drugs, the medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw secondary to bisphosphonate therapy [MRONJ (BP)] is continuously gaining clinical relevance. Impaired osteoclast function, accompanied by altered cell morphology and expression of osteoclastic effector proteins, contributes to the pathogenesis of MRONJ (BP). However, the underlying regulatory mechanisms at a transcriptional level are unaddressed so far. These mechanisms are crucial to the development of disease-characteristic osteoclastic anomalies, that contribute to the pathogenesis of MRONJ (BP). NFATc1 is considered a master upstream osteoclastic activator, whereas BCL6 acts as osteoclastic suppressor. The present study aimed to elucidate the NFATc1 and BCL6 mediated osteoclastic regulation and activity in MRONJ (BP) compared to osteoradionecrosis (ORN) and osteomyelitis (OM) and normal jaw bone. METHODS: Formalin-fixed jaw bone specimens from 70 patients [MRONJ (BP) n = 30; OM: n = 15, ORN: n = 15, control: n = 10] were analyzed retrospectively for osteoclast expression of NFATc1 and BCL6. The specimens were processed for H&E staining and immunohistochemistry. The histological sections were digitalized and analyzed by virtual microscopy. RESULTS: Osteoclastic expression of NFATc1 and BCL6 was significantly higher in MRONJ (BP) specimens compared to OM and control specimens. NFATc1 and BCL6 labeling indices revealed no significant differences between MRONJ (BP) and ORN. The ratio of nuclear BCL6+ osteoclasts to cytoplasmic BCL6+ osteoclasts revealed significantly higher values for MRONJ (BP) specimens compared to OM and controls. CONCLUSION: This study displays that osteoclasts in MRONJ (BP) tissues feature increased expression of the higher-level regulators, paradoxically of both NFATc1 and BCL6. These observations can help to explain the genesis of morphologically altered and resorptive inactive osteoclasts in MRONJ (BP) tissues by outlining the transcriptional regulation of the pathomechanically relevant osteoclastic effector proteins. Furthermore, they strengthen the etiological delineation of MRONJ (BP) from OM and extend the osteoclast profiles of MRONJ (BP), OM and ORN and thus could lead to a better histopathological differentiation that can improve treatment decision and motivate new therapeutic concepts.

Microscopic observation of magnon bound states and their dynamics.

The existence of bound states of elementary spin waves (magnons) in one-dimensional quantum magnets was predicted almost 80 years ago. Identifying signatures of magnon bound states has so far remained the subject of intense theoretical research, and their detection has proved challenging for experiments. Ultracold atoms offer an ideal setting in which to find such bound states by tracking the spin dynamics with single-spin and single-site resolution following a local excitation. Here we use in situ correlation measurements to observe two-magnon bound states directly in a one-dimensional Heisenberg spin chain comprising ultracold bosonic atoms in an optical lattice. We observe the quantum dynamics of free and bound magnon states through time-resolved measurements of two spin impurities. The increased effective mass of the compound magnon state results in slower spin dynamics as compared to single-magnon excitations. We also determine the decay time of bound magnons, which is probably limited by scattering on thermal fluctuations in the system. Our results provide a new way of studying fundamental properties of quantum magnets and, more generally, properties of interacting impurities in quantum many-body systems.

Predicting variant deleteriousness in non-human species: applying the CADD approach in mouse.

BACKGROUND: Predicting the deleteriousness of observed genomic variants has taken a step forward with the introduction of the Combined Annotation Dependent Depletion (CADD) approach, which trains a classifier on the wealth of available human genomic information. This raises the question whether it can be done with less data for non-human species. Here, we investigate the prerequisites to construct a CADD-based model for a non-human species. RESULTS: Performance of the mouse model is competitive with that of the human CADD model and better than established methods like PhastCons conservation scores and SIFT. Like in the human case, performance varies for different genomic regions and is best for coding regions. We also show the benefits of generating a species-specific model over lifting variants to a different species or applying a generic model. With fewer genomic annotations, performance on the test set as well as on the three validation sets is still good. CONCLUSIONS: It is feasible to construct species-specific CADD models even when annotations such as epigenetic markers are not available. The minimal requirement for these models is the availability of a set of genomes of closely related species that can be used to infer an ancestor genome and substitution rates for the data generation.

Microwave-assisted Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency: publisher's note.

This publisher's note corrects an error on page 1 in Opt. Lett.43, 1822 (2018).OPLEDP0146-959210.1364/OL.43.001822.

Microwave-assisted Rydberg electromagnetically induced transparency.

We demonstrate electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT) in a four-level cascade-like system, where the two upper levels are Rydberg states coupled by a microwave field. A two-photon transition consisting of an off-resonant microwave field and an off-resonant optical field forms an effective coupling field to induce transparency of the probe light. We characterize the Rabi frequency of the effective coupling field, as well as the EIT microwave spectra. The results show that microwave-assisted EIT allows us to efficiently access Rydberg states with relatively high orbital angular momentum ℓ=3, which is promising for the study of exotic Rydberg molecular states.