We show that in a two-component Bose gas with Rashba spin-orbit coupling (SOC), two atoms can form bound states (Rashbons) with any intra-species scattering length. At zero center-of-mass momentum, there are two degenerate Rashbons due to time-reversal symmetry, but the degeneracy is lifted at finite inplane momentum with two different effective masses. A stable Rashbon condensation can be created in a dilute Bose gas with attractive intra-species and repulsive inter-species interactions. The critical temperature of Rashbon condensation is about six times smaller than the Bose-Einstein condensation transition temperature of an ideal Bose gas. Due to the Rashba SOC, excitations in the Rashbon condensation phase are anisotropic in momentum space.

A major puzzle of condensed-matter physics is the physics behind the linear-in-temperature law of resistivity in many exotic metallic systems, including cuprates, pnictides, and heavy fermions. In this work, we propose, based on a symmetry-breaking analysis, that the strange metal phase is a novel emergent mesoscopic quantum state, beyond Landau’s quasiparticle excitation, which is composed of fluctuating vortices. The model predicts, in a straightforward way, the local magnetic field with a correlation time determined by the Coulomb potential, validated by observations of dynamic muon spin relaxation rates in both 3d cuprates and 5d iridate without fitting parameter. Furthermore, the model resolves the underlying quantum mechanism of the Planckian dissipation in terms of carrier scattering by fluctuating vortex, which predicts a scattering rate proportional to the vortex density, thus deriving both linear-in temperature and linear-in field laws, with a universal scattering coefficient validated by data of several dozens of samples for cuprates and iron pnictides. These findings offer a new phenomenology for non-Fermi liquid in strongly correlated materials.

The quantum origin of the cuprate pseudogap is a central conundrum of condensed matter physics. Although many symmetry-broken scenarios were previously proposed, universal quantitative relationships have been rarely studied. Here, we report a unified energy law underlying the pseudogap, which determines the scattering rate, pseudogap energy, and its onset temperature, with a quadratic scaling of the wavevector of density wave order (DWO). The law is validated by data from over one hundred samples, and a further prediction that the master order of pseudogap transforms from fluctuating spin to charge DWO is also confirmed. Furthermore, the energy law enables our derivation of the well-known linear scalings for the resistivity of the strange metal phase and the transition temperature of the superconducting phase. Finally, it is concluded that fluctuating orders provide a critical bridge linking microscopic spectra to macroscopic transport, showing promise for the quantification of other strongly correlated materials.

Clarifying dominant factors determining the immune heterogeneity from non-survivors to survivors is crucial for developing therapeutics and vaccines against COVID-19. The main difficulty is quantitatively analysing the multi-level clinical data, including viral dynamics, immune response and tissue damages. Here, we adopt a top-down modelling approach to quantify key functional aspects and their dynamical interplay in the battle between the virus and the immune system, yielding an accurate description of real-time clinical data involving hundreds of patients for the first time. The quantification of antiviral responses gives that, compared to antibodies, T cells play a more dominant role in virus clearance, especially for mild patients (96.5%). Moreover, the anti-inflammatory responses, namely the cytokine inhibition and tissue repair rates, also positively correlate with T cell number and are significantly suppressed in non-survivors. Simulations show that the lack of T cells can lead to more significant inflammation, proposing an explanation for the monotonic increase of COVID-19 mortality with age and higher mortality for males. We propose that T cells play a crucial role in the immunity against COVID-19, which provides a new direction–improvement of T cell number for advancing current prevention and treatment.

The isothermal compression dynamics of ternary Ti-6Al-4V alloy with initial martensitic structures were investigated in the high temperature range 1083–1173 K and moderate strain rate regime 0.01–10 s−1. Shear banding was found to still dominate the deformation mechanism of this process, despite its nonadiabatic feature. The constitutive equation was derived with the aid of Zener–Hollomon parameter, which predicted the apparent activation energy as 534.39 kJ/mol. A combination of higher deformation temperature and lower strain rate suppressed the peak flow stress and promoted the evolution of shear bands. Both experiments and calculations demonstrated that a conspicuous temperature rise up to 83K could be induced by severe plastic deformation. This facilitated the dynamic recrystallization of deformed martensites, as evidenced by the measured microhardness profiles across shear bands.