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Sourav Chowdhury

Publications and source records attributed to Sourav Chowdhury.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

Interplay of spin-lattice and electronic coupling far above Neel ordering in 2D antiferromagnetic CrPS4 and its interface manifestation

A short-range spin correlation driven, strongly intercoupled spin-phonon-electronic state far above TN (~38K) is identified in the low dimensional van der Waals antiferromagnet CrPS4. Temperature-dependent Raman spectroscopy reveals spin-phonon coupling persisting up to T*~120K, concomitant with local lattice distortion. The setting of vibronic progression in photoluminescence spectra suggests the strengthening of electron-phonon coupling around T*. Furthermore, both the electrical transport and optoelectronic response also change significantly at T*. The results indicate that spin-phonon coupling above TN in CrPS4 originates from local lattice distortion induced by short range magnetic correlations which in turn enhances the electron-phonon interaction. Furthermore, using a CrPS4/In2Se3 heterostructure, we demonstrate that the anomaly associated with the coupled degrees of freedom in CrPS4 also influences the adjacent In2Se3 layer. The lattice dynamics of In2Se3 is significantly modified across the magnetic anomaly of CrPS4, and the coupled dynamics is observed at T*. These interfacial manifestation opens up new possibilities for achieving correlated multifunctionalities in artificially designed heterostructure.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Semi-Dirac States and Quantum Linear Magnetoresistance in Helimagnetic Pnictide MnP

Large linear positive magnetoresistance (LPMR) in topological and magnetic materials remains a subject of intense debate, particularly in noncollinear spin systems where spin-dependent scattering complicates charge transport. Manganese phosphide (MnP), a helimagnetic binary pnictide with multiple field-induced magnetic transitions, provides a useful platform to investigate the interplay between complex magnetism and electronic topology. Here, we present a comprehensive experimental and theoretical investigation of phase-dependent magnetotransport in high-quality MnP single crystals. Hall measurements reveal an anomalous Hall effect dominated by skew scattering at high temperatures and a finite topological Hall effect in the noncollinear fan (FAN) and low-temperature screw (SCR) phases. At low temperatures, we observe a large, non-saturating LPMR reaching nearly 800 percent at 4 K and 15 T, with a pronounced linear field dependence in the field-polarized ferromagnetic (FM2) state. First-principles calculations reveal a strongly anisotropic semi-Dirac-like band at the Y point that progressively approaches the Fermi level from the SCR to FAN and FM2 states. Our analysis indicates that the resulting small Fermi pocket can access the extreme quantum-limit regime at experimentally accessible fields, providing a microscopic framework for the observed LPMR within Abrikosov's quantum magnetoresistance theory.

cond-mat.str-el

Charge transfer and competing symmetry breaking drive orbital reconstruction and emergent ferromagnetism in insulating oxide superlattices

Electron correlation, hopping, and ligand-to-metal charge transfer collectively lead to diverse electronic and magnetic phenomena in 3$d$ transition-metal oxides, where directional d orbitals make hopping highly sensitive to symmetry-dependent orbital overlap. Heterostructure engineering with atomically flat interfaces adds symmetry-breaking charge transfer as a further route to emergent behavior, yet whether interfacial mismatch between constituent oxides of a superlattice shapes ground states independent of epitaxial strain remains unresolved. Here we examine superlattices combining NdNiO$_3$ with Mott-insulating NdMnO$_3$. Varying layer thickness and combining transport with X-ray spectroscopy, we show that electron transfer from NdMnO$_3$ to NdNiO$_3$ drives a room-temperature insulating state with a distinct electronic structure, accompanied by a reversal in orbital symmetry beyond simple strain considerations, underscoring the interface's central role. These reconstructions stabilize an emergent ferromagnetic insulating state arising from interfacial Ni$^{2+}$-O-Mn$^{4+}$ superexchange. Our results establish a pathway to interface-engineered ferromagnetic insulating phases via competing interactions, with potential for spin-insulatronic applications.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Antisite-disorder driven tuning of magnetic properties and exchange-bias in Nd$_{2-x}$Sr$_{x}$CoMnO$_{6-δ}$ $(0 \leq x \leq 1)$ ($δ\sim 0.5$) double perovskites

We demonstrate precise control of exchange bias (EB) in the Nd$_{2-x}$Sr$_x$CoMnO$_{6-δ}$ ($0 \leq x \leq 1$) double-perovskite series through Sr$^{2+}$ induced hole doping, unveiling a remarkable transition between normal and inverse EB states. Employing neutron powder diffraction and X-ray absorption spectroscopy, we reveal a structural evolution from a B-site-ordered monoclinic ($P2_1/n$) phase to a disordered rhombohedral ($R\overline{3}c$) phase with increasing $x$, accompanied by a shift in the effective Co valence from +2 toward +3, while the Mn valence remains essentially unchanged. DC magnetization measurements indicate a gradual suppression of ferromagnetism with hole doping, whereas AC susceptibility measurements at $x = 0.75$ reveal pronounced cluster-glass behavior and the highest EB field of $\sim 4$ kOe at 8 K under a 6 T cooling field. After correcting for minor-loop effects, we identify robust inverse EB at $x = 0.75$, persisting even under a cooling field of 6 T. We attribute this phenomenon to competing ferromagnetic--antiferromagnetic and ferromagnetic--glassy interfaces, governed by strong magnetic frustration and the magnetocrystalline anisotropy associated with rare-earth 4$f$ electrons. These findings elucidate the pivotal role of doping-induced structural and magnetic competition in tailoring EB behavior in rare-earth double perovskites, providing new insights for the design of advanced magnetic materials.

cond-mat.str-el

Constraint-Aware Optimization for Robust Protein Stability Prediction

Multimodal $ΔΔG$ predictors integrating protein language models with inverse-folding representations achieve strong in-distribution accuracy on the Megascale dataset but exhibit limited robustness on out-of-distribution (OOD) proteins, persistent forward-reverse bias on paired-mutation benchmarks, and under-representation of rare stabilizing mutations. Existing approaches address these limitations primarily through additional architectural components, leaving optimization-level intervention comparatively underexplored. We introduce a constraint-aware optimization framework combining Balanced Mean Squared Error, a Siamese anti-symmetric regularizer, and a novel OOD-margin consistency loss on the per-position feature representation, requiring no architectural changes to the SPURS backbone. Across eleven benchmarks and three random seeds, the framework improves Spearman correlation on S669 from 0.486 to 0.540 ($σ=0.002$ across seeds), matching the published SPURS baseline (0.50) without architectural modification, and on S461 from 0.653 to 0.711, with consistent smaller gains on five additional OOD datasets. A controlled diagnostic on Ssym reveals that anti-symmetric training does not eliminate systematic forward-reverse bias, indicating that gains arise through implicit regularization rather than exact thermodynamic constraint enforcement.

cs.LG

Topological spin-texture transitions in van der Waals magnets revealed by X-ray Fourier transform holography

Nontrivial topological spin-textures, such as skyrmions, merons, bimerons, and skyrmioniums, are envisioned as robust building blocks for future memory and logic devices. Controllable transformations between these states require a quantum-mechanical description of electronic degrees of freedom and atomic-scale insight beyond existing phenomenological models. Here, we report an atomic-scale investigation of topological phase transitions and their protection in the two-dimensional van der Waals ferromagnet Fe$_3$GeTe$_2$ (FGT) using a combined experimental-theoretical approach. Synchrotron-based Fourier transform holography directly images labyrinth domains, isolated skyrmions, mixed labyrinth-skyrmion phases, and skyrmion bags with high spatial resolution. We compare these observations to simulations based on an electronic lattice Hamiltonian that captures both metallicity and relativistic spin-orbit coupling in FGT. By systematically exploring a broad range of temperatures and magnetic fields, we map the mechanisms governing topological transitions and their stability. This sequential-integrated experimental-theoretical framework advances understanding of spin-texture interactions and enables precise control of external tuning parameters. Our results establish a platform for creating, stabilizing, and manipulating topological states, paving the way for engineered spin-texture transitions in next-generation spintronic technologies.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Coupled phase transitions in crystalline solids with extreme chemical disorder

Structural phase transitions often couple to magnetic and electronic degrees of freedom, enabling emergent phenomena in solids. In high-entropy oxides (HEOs), which typically stabilize in highly symmetric cubic phases, such transitions are considered rare due to the extreme chemical disorder-analogous to the behavior observed in high-entropy alloys. This raises a fundamental question: can the rich physics of coupled phase transitions persist in such disordered systems? Here, we show that targeted design of compositionally complex oxides (CCOs) can trigger symmetry-lowering transitions, with spinel-type materials serving as a representative case. For instance, [Mn$_{0.2}$Co$_{0.2}$Ni$_{0.2}$Cu$_{0.2}$Zn$_{0.2}$]Cr$_2$O$_4$, having two Jahn-Teller (J-T) active ions, undergoes two successive coupled structural transitions upon cooling: an orbital-driven transition at 100 K and a magnetism-driven transition at 40 K. Systematic substitution of $A$-site cations reveals that both Ni and Cu are essential for these transitions. Element specific local structure investigations uncover distinct and opposing local distortions around Ni and Cu, while Mn, Co, and Zn remain largely undistorted. These results establish that CCOs can host coupled phase transitions through `cooperation via competition' among local distortions in a chemically disordered lattice. This discovery expands the design principles for complex oxides, introducing a new paradigm for tuning structural and functional properties in high-entropy systems beyond conventional symmetry constraints.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Unraveling the temperature-responsive charge-disproportionation in BaBiO$_3$

This study shows that the charge disproportionation at the Bi site in BaBiO$_3$ alters as a function of temperature. Decreasing the temperature from 300K down to 160K leads to a significant modification of the density of states corresponding to the Bi-O hybridized band near the Fermi level (E$_\text{F}$). This modification indicates reduction of Bi 6$sp$ - O 2$p$ hybridization and O 2$p$ spectral weight near E$_\text{F}$. The strong decrement of covalency at lower temperatures is accompanied by a decrement in O 2$p$ hole density due to possible charge transfer from Bi 6$s$ to the O 2$p$ band. Bi-charge state analysis from Bi-4$f$ core-level spectra showed that at 300K, $δ$ (charge difference between alternate Bi sites) value in 4$\pmδ$ is much less than at 160K, which reveals the transition towards the ionic nature of CD or static CD in BBO at low temperature. On the other hand, O 1$s$ core-level spectra displayed an asymmetric shape, and temperature-dependent modifications of the asymmetric shape and intensity have been observed. This highlights the significant influence of the O 2$p$ band hole on the dynamical CD at the Bi site.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Role of Disorder in Governing the Magnetic Properties of Cu2IrO3

Cu$_2$IrO$_3$ is a honeycomb iridate which has been studied recently as a candidate Kitaev quantum spin liquid. Its magnetic ground state however, has been reported to be quantum disordered, spin glassy, or magnetically ordered depending on synthesis details. We have prepared a Cu$_2$IrO$_3$ sample with large antisite disorder and studied in detail its structure (global and local), charge states, and thermodynamic properties to try to quantify and characterize the disorder and its connection to the magnetic ground state. X-ray diffraction, Extended x-ray absorption fine structure(EXAFS) and X-ray pair distribution function analysis revealed a large site disorder ($\sim$25\%), while XPS and XANES reveal mixed valence of Cu and Ir following Cu$^{1+}$ + Ir$^{4+}$ $\rightarrow$ Cu$^{2+}$ + Ir$^{3+}$. This combination of site disorder and charge redistribution generates competing antiferromagnetic interactions and magnetic frustration, resulting in dynamically fluctuating AFM clusters near 80K that freeze below 29K. These results demonstrate the crucial role of synthesis dependent disorder in determining the magnetic ground state of Cu$_2$IrO$_3$.

cond-mat.str-el

Evolutionary and Structural Constraints Define a Mutation-Resistant Catalytic Core in E. coli Serine Hydroxy methyltransferase (SHMT)

Serine hydroxymethyltransferase is an essential enzyme in the Escherichia coli folate pathway, yet it has not been adopted as an antibacterial target, unlike DHFR, DHPS, or thymidylate synthase. To investigate this discrepancy, we applied a multi-scale computational framework that integrates large-scale sequence analysis of 1000 homologs, coevolutionary interaction mapping, structural community analysis, intrinsic disorder profiling, and adaptive fitness modelling. These analyses converge on a single conclusion: the catalytic core of SHMT forms an exceptionally conserved and tightly coupled structural unit. This region exhibits dense coevolution, strong intramolecular connectivity, minimal disorder, and extremely low mutational tolerance. Peripheral loops and termini, in contrast, are far more flexible. Relative to established folate-pathway antibiotic targets, SHMT active site is even more rigid and evolutionarily constrained. This extreme constraint may limit the emergence of resistance-compatible mutations, providing a plausible explanation for the absence of natural-product inhibitors. Fitness trajectory modelling supports this interpretation, showing that nearly all active-site residues tolerate only rare or neutral substitutions. Together, these findings identify SHMT as a structurally stable and evolutionarily restricted enzyme whose catalytic architecture is unusually protected. This makes SHMT an underexplored yet promising target for the rational design of next-generation antibacterial agents.

q-bio.PE

Vector Spin Chirality Switching in Noncollinear Antiferromagnets

Spin chirality provides a powerful route to control magnetic and topological phases in materials, enabling next-generation spintronic and quantum technologies. Coplanar noncollinear antiferromagnets with Kagome lattice spin geometries host vector spin chirality (VSC), the handedness of spin arrangement, and offer an excellent platform for chirality-driven phase control. However, the microscopic mechanisms governing VSC switching and its coupling to magnetic order, electronic structure, and quantum geometry remain elusive, with experimental evidence still lacking. Here, we present conclusive experimental evidence of temperature-driven VSC switching in an archetypal noncollinear antiferromagnetic manganese chromium nitride (Mn3CrN) epitaxial thin films. The VSC switching induces a concomitant quantum-geometric and Lifshitz transition, manifested through a pronounced peak in anomalous Hall conductivity remanence, a metal-insulator-like crossover in longitudinal resistivity, and a distinct evolution of x-ray magnetic circular dichroic signal. The reversal of VSC reconstructs the spin configuration, Fermi surface topology and Berry curvature, marking a unified magnetic-electronic-quantum geometric transition. This emergent behaviour, captured through magneto-transport and magneto-optic measurements, and supported by first-principles theory establish VSC as an active control knob for chirality-driven phase engineering and the design of multifunctional quantum devices.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Mean field magnetism and spin frustration in a double perovskite oxide with compositional complexity

The rise of high-entropy oxides as a major functional materials design principle in recent years has prompted us to investigate how compositional disorder affects long-range magnetic ordering in double perovskite oxides. Since ferromagnetic insulators are emerging as an important platform for lossless spintronics, we consider the $RE_2$NiMnO$_6$ ($RE$ : rare-earth) family and investigate single-crystalline films of (La$_{0.4}$Nd$_{0.4}$Sm$_{0.4}$Gd$_{0.4}$Y$_{0.4}$)NiMnO$_{6}$ grown on SrTiO$_3$ (001) substrates in this work. Despite configurational disorder and high cationic size variance at the $RE$ site, the material exhibits robust ferromagnetic ordering with a Curie temperature ($T_\mathrm{c}$) of approximately 150 K. This $T_\mathrm{c}$ is consistent with the expectation based on consideration of the average ionic radii of the rare-earth ($RE$) sites in the bulk $RE_2$NiMnO$_6$. Below $T_\mathrm{c}$, Raman spectroscopy measurement finds a deviation from anharmonic behavior, where the phonon renormalization aligns with a mean-field approximation of spin-spin correlation. At lower temperature, magnetic $RE$ ions also contributed to the magnetic behavior and the system displays a reentrant spin-glass-like behavior. This study demonstrates that while a mean-field approach serves as a viable starting point for predicting the long-range transition temperature, microscopic details of the complex magnetic interactions are essential for understanding the low-temperature phase.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Universal features of epidemic and vaccine models

In this paper, we study a stochastic susceptible-infected-susceptible (SIS) epidemic model that includes an additional immigration process. In the presence of multiplicative noise, generated by environmental perturbations, the model exhibits noise-induced transitions. The bifurcation diagram has two distinct regions of unimodality and bimodality in which the steady-state probability distribution has one and two peaks, respectively. Apart from first-order transitions between the two regimes, a critical-point transition occurs at a cusp point with the transition belonging to the mean-field Ising universality class. The epidemic model shares these features with the well-known Horsthemke-Lefever model of population genetics. The effect of vaccination on the spread/containment of the epidemic in a stochastic setting is also studied. We further propose a general vaccine-hesitancy model, along the lines of Kirman's ant model, with the steady-state distribution of the fraction of the vaccine-willing population given by the Beta distribution. The distribution is shown to give a good fit to the COVID-19 data on vaccine hesitancy and vaccination. We derive the steady-state probability distribution of the basic reproduction number, a key parameter in epidemiology, based on a beta-distributed fraction of the vaccinated population. Our study highlights the universal features that epidemic and vaccine models share with other dynamical models.

q-bio.PE

Studying ECG signals using nonlinear oscillators and Genetic Algorithm

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death and disability in the world and thus their detection is extremely important as early as possible so that it can be prognosed and managed appropriately. Hence, electrophysiological models dealing with cardiac conduction are critically important in the field of interdisciplinary sciences. The primary aim of this paper is to reproduce a normal sinus rhythm ECG waveform which will act as the baseline for fitting and then fit any clinical ECG waveform that does not deviate much from normal sinus rhythm. To reproduce the ECG, we modeled the pacemaker complex using three coupled van der Pol (VDP) oscillators with appropriate delays to generate the action potentials. These action potentials are responsible for the excitation of the non-pacemaker cells of the atria and ventricles whose electrical activity gets recorded as the ECG signal. The ECG signal is composed of a periodic set of individual waves corresponding to atrial and ventricular contraction and relaxation. These waves are modeled with the help of four FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) equations with impulses corresponding to the action potentials generated by the pacemaker cells. After the successful reproduction of a normal sinus rhythm ECG, we have developed a framework where we have used genetic algorithm (GA) to fit a given clinical ECG data with parameters belonging to the above mentioned system of delay differential equations (DDEs). The GA framework has enabled us to fit ECG data representing different cardiac conditions reasonably well. We aim to use this work to get a better understanding of the cardiac conduction system and cardiovascular diseases which will help humanity in the future.

physics.med-ph

Gender-Based Comparative Study of Type 2 Diabetes Risk Factors in Kolkata, India: A Machine Learning Approach

Type 2 diabetes mellitus represents a prevalent and widespread global health concern, necessitating a comprehensive assessment of its risk factors. This study aimed towards learning whether there is any differential impact of age, Lifestyle, BMI and Waist to height ratio on the risk of Type 2 diabetes mellitus in males and females in Kolkata, West Bengal, India based on a sample observed from the out-patient consultation department of Belle Vue Clinic in Kolkata. Various machine learning models like Logistic Regression, Random Forest, and Support Vector Classifier, were used to predict the risk of diabetes, and performance was compared based on different predictors. Our findings indicate a significant age-related increase in risk of diabetes for both males and females. Although exercising and BMI was found to have significant impact on the risk of Type 2 diabetes in males, in females both turned out to be statistically insignificant. For both males and females, predictive models based on WhtR demonstrated superior performance in risk assessment compared to those based on BMI. This study sheds light on the gender-specific differences in the risk factors for Type 2 diabetes, offering valuable insights that can be used towards more targeted healthcare interventions and public health strategies.

cs.LG

Room temperature reversible colossal volto-magnetic effect in all-oxide metallicmagnet/topotactic-phase-transition material heterostructures

Multiferroic materials have undergone extensive research in the past two decades in an effort to produce a sizable room-temperature magneto-electric (ME) effect in either exclusive or composite materials for use in a variety of electronic or spintronic devices. These studies have looked into the ME effect by switching the electric polarization by the magnetic field or switching the magnetism by the electric field. Here, an innovative way is developed to knot the functional properties based on the tremendous modulation of electronics and magnetization by the electric field of the topotactic phase transitions (TPT) in heterostructures composed of metallic-magnet/TPT-material. It is divulged that application of a nominal potential difference of 2-3 Volts induces gigantic changes in magnetization by 100-250% leading to colossal Voltomagnetic effect, which would be tremendously beneficial for low-power consumption applications in spintronics. Switching electronics and magnetism by inducing TPT through applying an electric field requires much less energy, making such TPT-based systems promising for energy-efficient memory and logic applications as well as opening a plethora of tremendous opportunities for applications in different domains.

cond-mat.mtrl-sci

Effect of air pollution on the growth of diabetic population

Diabetes mellitus is a disease which is currently a huge health hazard globally. The cases of diabetes had increased by a significant amount in past decades. Also it has been predicted that it will further increase in future. Diabetes depends on various factors like obesity, physical inactivity. Also diabetes can depend on various environmental issues. In this article, our main focus is to study the dependence of the diabetic cases on the air pollution. We have used the data for diabetic population and PM2.5 concentration in the air for five countries from 2010 to 2021. Here we have studied the correlation between the diabetic cases data and PM2.5 concentration data. Also, we have done the linear regression analysis to find whether this correlation is statistically significant.

physics.bio-ph

Cellular automata in the light of COVID-19

Currently, the world has been facing the brunt of a pandemic due to a disease called COVID-19 for the last 2 years. To study the spread of such infectious diseases it is important to not only understand their temporal evolution but also the spatial evolution. In this work, the spread of this disease has been studied with a cellular automata (CA) model to find the temporal and the spatial behavior of it. Here, we have proposed a neighborhood criteria which will help us to measure the social confinement at the time of the disease spread. The two main parameters of our model are (i) disease transmission probability (q) which helps us to measure the infectivity of a disease and (ii) exponent (n) which helps us to measure the degree of the social confinement. Here, we have studied various spatial growths of the disease by simulating this CA model. Finally we have tried to fit our model with the COVID-19 data of India for various waves and have attempted to match our model predictions with regards to each wave to see how the different parameters vary with respect to infectivity and restrictions in social interaction.

physics.bio-ph