Clay weekly context brief for the Physics category (ISO week 2026-W44). Clay tracks publications from the Physics feed list. Below are recent items from this category, each with its source and a short description of what the publication covers when one is available in the source feed. Recent publications: 1. Pure states are optimal for total energy-constrained quantum channel discrimination Source: quant-ph (Quantum Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30295 We consider the discrimination of two quantum channels acting on bosonic modes, with a probe state of fixed mean photon number and no ancilla. 2. Cleaner air strengthens the Pacific trade winds without a detectable change in El Nino Source: physics.ao-ph (Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31236 Air quality policy will cut aerosol and ozone precursor emissions, and studies disagree on how the tropical Pacific circulation and the El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) will respond. 3. Analytical Modeling of Modulated Heating for Three-Dimensional Anisotropic Optical Thermometry of Multilayered Cylinders Source: physics.app-ph (Applied Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31424 Thermally relevant cylindrical geometries are used in a plethora of applications with thermal property differences depending significantly on material complexity. 4. Fock-space relativistic coupled-cluster study of systematic shifts and fine-structure constant sensitivity in {\rm Cf$^{17+}$}, {\rm Cm$^{15+}$} and {\rm Source: physics.atom-ph (Atomic Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31231 Highly charged ions (HCIs) are among the most promising candidates proposed for the development of next-generation optical clocks and the precision tests of fundamental physics. 5. QuDPy-FDGF: A Python-Based Tool for Computing Ultrafast Nonlinear Optical Responses Using Frequency Domain Green's Functions Source: physics.chem-ph (Chemical Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30398 We present QuDPy-FDGF, an open-source Python framework that evaluates Liouville-space pathways as hybrid chains of time propagators and frequency-domain Green's functions. 6. GeoAgent: Contract-Constrained LLM Agents for Seismic Data Processing Source: physics.geo-ph (Geophysics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31096 Large language models (LLMs) can drive scientific software through function calling, but free-form tool use is fragile on long, data-dependent processing chains. 7. Quartz Crystal Microbalance impedance of discrete adsorbates with lubricated contact Source: physics.ins-det (Instrumentation and Detectors) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31220 We present a thorough theoretical investigation of the shear force exerted on a horizontal plate undergoing fast (MHz range) longitudinal oscillations in presence of a spherical particle suspended in the liquid at close proximity to the plate. 8. Advancing oxygen-enhanced MRI acquisition and modelling through dynamic ${\Delta}R_{1}$ and ${\Delta}R_2^*$ sensing Source: physics.med-ph (Medical Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30793 Purpose: To develop a multiparametric mapping framework for quantifying fat- and water-specific longitudinal and effective transverse relaxation rates, as well as changes in these parameters induced by a gas challenge. 9. Black-Hole Ringdown from Photon-Sphere Modes in an Elastic Analogue Source: physics.optics (Optics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30396 Quasinormal modes (QNMs) govern the ringdown of black holes, yet their physical origin and experimental accessibility remain limited. 10. Evolution of Jeans instability in nonthermal magnetized complex plasmas Source: physics.plasm-ph (Plasma Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30332 The classical Jeans instability framework provides a conceptual foundation for understanding self-gravitational collapse and subsequent star formation in interstellar environments. 11. Core-periphery structure induces double phase transitions in information cascades Source: physics.soc-ph (Physics and Society) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30745 Double phase transitions in spreading processes are commonly associated with additional dynamical or structural complexity. 12. A Particle Multi-Relaxation Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook Method for Rarefied Monatomic Gas Mixtures Source: physics.flu-dyn (Fluid Dynamics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.24244 Kinetic models based on the Bhatnagar-Gross-Krook (BGK) framework provide an efficient alternative to the Boltzmann equation for rarefied gas flows; however, existing formulations for gas mixtures remain limited in representing pair-dependent relaxation processes and recovering correct Navier-Stokes-Fourier (NSF) transport behavior. 13. An elementary method to determine the critical mass of a sphere of fissile material based on a separation of neutron transport and nuclear reaction processes Source: physics.pop-ph (Popular Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2506.06927 A simplified method to calculate the critical mass of a fissile-material sphere is presented. 14. Conservation in Every Quantum Measurement Outcome? Source: physics.hist-ph (History and Philosophy of Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.29804 In quantum mechanics, conservation laws are usually understood only statistically and only in the context of unitary evolution: during such evolution, if an observable commutes with the Hamiltonian, its expectation value and Born-rule probability distribution remain unchanged. 15. A Machine Learning Approach to Finslerian Cosmological Dark Energy Model Source: physics.gen-ph (General Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26882 Modified extensions of the standard cosmological models often introduce complex parameter degeneracies that severely impact sampling convergence of the parameter space while analyzing the model observationally. 16. Data-driven modeling in the introductory physics laboratory: Scaling analysis and data collapse in the specific heat of water experiment Source: physics.ed-ph (Physics Education) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.15124 We present a data-driven redesign of the classic specific-heat-of-water experiment that uses scaling analysis and data collapse for model construction rather than beginning with a previously established thermodynamic formula. 17. Quantitative Eshelby stability: local and finite-shape theory through AI-assisted mechanics Source: physics.class-ph (Classical Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.13400 How can human researchers use artificial intelligence (AI) to make progress on difficult mechanics problems while retaining control of physical significance, mathematical rigor, and validation? 18. Evaluation of Transverse Incoherent Tune Shifts in the Electron-Ion Collider Source: physics.acc-ph (Accelerator Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.29951 Achieving the Electron-Ion Collider (EIC) peak luminosity goal of 10 to the power of 34 per square centimeter per second requires high average currents, flat beams, non-circular vacuum chambers, and large transverse orbit offsets in the Hadron Storage Ring (HSR) and Electron Storage Ring (ESR). 19. A dynamic mathematical model for sub-lethal damage recovery: Integrating recovery processes into multi-target theory to visualize damage states Source: physics.bio-ph (Biological Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.19473 Quantifying the biological effects of radiation is essential for radiotherapy and radiation protection. 20. Phase shifts and fluctuations from motional, relativistic, and dark-matter effects in ion-trap clocks Source: physics.atm-clus (Atomic and Molecular Clusters) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.27994 Ions possess both center-of-mass motion and internal states, rendering trapped-ion optical clocks susceptible to perturbations of both degrees of freedom, which results in systematic shifts and fluctuations with motional and relativistic origins. 21. Self-Oscillating Photonic Frequency Comb for Sub-THz Local Oscillator Generation in Earth Observation Systems Source: physics.space-ph (Space Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.26372 Earth observation missions rely on microwave and sub-terahertz radiometry for retrieving atmospheric parameters such as temperature, humidity, and cloud properties, with the 183- and 229-GHz spectral regions being particularly relevant. 22. Transversal syndrome extraction: A unifying construction for measuring the error syndromes of any stabilizer code Source: quant-ph (Quantum Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30279 Fault-tolerant syndrome extraction is fundamental to stabilizer-code-based quantum error correction, yet existing general protocols incur substantial costs in either circuit depth or width. 23. Can We Trust Evaluations of AI Weather Forecasts for Extremes? How Evaluation Protocols Shape Model Rankings Source: physics.ao-ph (Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31237 AI weather models perform competitively with traditional physics-based models at a fraction of the computational cost, and they are thus already used operationally. 24. Stiff source terms inside ADER-DG method Source: physics.app-ph (Applied Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30852 ADER-DG numerical method with the LST-DG predictor, when used to solve hyperbolic equations with stiff source terms, exhibits properties characteristic of IMEX computational schemes. 25. Predictive electronic feedback control for narrow-linewidth lasers Source: physics.atom-ph (Atomic Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31396 Narrow-linewidth lasers are essential for various key atom-laser interaction processes and optical setups in quantum coherent control, quantum precision measurement, and quantum information science. 26. Synthetic Stochastic Time Series from Generative Models Source: physics.chem-ph (Chemical Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30406 Obtaining statistically converged time-series data represents a fundamental challenge in computational chemistry, where sampling is constrained by the prohibitive computational cost of high-fidelity simulations. 27. Modelling wide-swath altimeter observation-error correlations with a regularised diffusion operator Source: physics.geo-ph (Geophysics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.31409 Unaccounted-for observation-error correlations have long been known to be detrimental to the quality of atmospheric and ocean analyses produced by data assimilation (DA) systems. 28. Performance of the TUCAN Magnetically Shielded Room Source: physics.ins-det (Instrumentation and Detectors) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2604.15565 The TRIUMF Ultracold Advanced Neutron (TUCAN) collaboration has commissioned a large magnetically shielded room to be used for measuring the neutron electric dipole moment (nEDM) to a precision of $10^{-27}~e\mathrm{cm}$. 29. LieGROG: A Lie algebra approach for calibrating GRAPPA operators Source: physics.med-ph (Medical Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30927 Purpose: In multi-coil acquisitions based on non-Cartesian k-space sampling, image reconstruction using GRAPPA Operator based gridding (GROG) can provide advantages with respect to the non-uniform FFT (NUFFT): It waives both the need for calculating a density compensation function, and for transferring back and forth between Cartesian and non-Cartesian points in iterative algorithms. 30. Laser with $7\times10^{-18}$ stability Source: physics.optics (Optics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30532 We report a laser with record frequency stability, based on a 21 cm cryogenic silicon cavity. 31. A novel mechanism for spontaneous ExB shear layer formation in scrape-off-layer plasmas Source: physics.plasm-ph (Plasma Physics) Link: https://arxiv.org/abs/2610.30343 We present a novel mechanism for spontaneous shear-flow generation in the scrape-off layer (SOL) of magnetically confined plasmas, arising at abrupt changes in the sheath connection length $L_\parallel$. Sources in this brief: physics.acc-ph (Accelerator Physics); physics.ao-ph (Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics); physics.app-ph (Applied Physics); physics.atm-clus (Atomic and Molecular Clusters); physics.atom-ph (Atomic Physics); physics.bio-ph (Biological Physics); physics.chem-ph (Chemical Physics); physics.class-ph (Classical Physics); physics.ed-ph (Physics Education); physics.flu-dyn (Fluid Dynamics); physics.gen-ph (General Physics); physics.geo-ph (Geophysics); physics.hist-ph (History and Philosophy of Physics); physics.ins-det (Instrumentation and Detectors); physics.med-ph (Medical Physics); physics.optics (Optics); physics.plasm-ph (Plasma Physics); physics.pop-ph (Popular Physics); physics.soc-ph (Physics and Society); physics.space-ph (Space Physics); quant-ph (Quantum Physics). Selected 31 of 371 available items for this weekly brief.