ETH Zurich

The Bidirected Cut Relaxation for Steiner Tree Has Integrality Gap Smaller than 2

Abstract. The Steiner tree problem is one of the most prominent problems in network design. Given an edge-weighted undirected graph and a subset of the vertices, called terminals, the task is to compute a minimum-weight tree containing all terminals (and possibly further vertices...

Road transport of trapped antiprotons

Abstract Low-energy antiprotons confined in ultrahigh-vacuum Penning traps 1 enable precision investigations of charge, parity and time-reversal (CPT) invariance 2 to test the fundamental symmetry between matter and antimatter. These studies are driven by the search for physics b...

Finite Element Modelling of CFRP-prestressed Structural Concrete

This paper introduces a Finite Element framework for modelling reinforced and CFRP-prestressed concrete structures. A standalone Finite Element solver employing layered Reissner-Mindlin shell elements tailored for reinforced concrete applications is introduced and verified. Mater...

Outer membrane changes enable evolutionary escape from bacterial predation

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a threat to modern medicine. To combat AMR pathogens, natural predators like bacteriophages and predatory bacteria have gained interest recently. Predatory bacterium Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus is ubiquitous and has a broad prey range. It is parti...

Global economic and environmental trade-offs of power-to-liquid fuels

Power-to-liquid (PtL) fuels are carbon-based liquid fuels made from hydrogen and carbon dioxide that can substitute fossil fuels in hard-to-electrify mobility sectors, particularly aviation and maritime transport, but their climate benefits depend strongly on how hydrogen, carbon...

Ceria-Based Nanotherapeutics for Inflammatory Skin Disorders: From Design and Mechanisms to Advanced Delivery and Future Perspectives

Inflammatory skin diseases, including atopic dermatitis (AD), psoriasis, diabetic wounds, and photoaging, represent major public health challenges due to their high prevalence, chronic recurrence, and substantial disease burden. Current treatments, such as glucocorticoids, calcin...

Advancing minimally invasive precision surgery in large open cavities with robotic flexible endoscopy

Flexible robots hold great promise for enhancing minimally invasive surgery (MIS) by providing superior dexterity, precise control, and safe tissue interaction. Yet, translating these advantages into endoscopic interventions in large open cavities remains challenging. The lack of...

Nonlinear spectral modeling and control of soft-robotic muscles from data

Abstract Artificial muscles are essential for compliant musculoskeletal robotics but complicate control due to nonlinear multiphysics dynamics. Electrohydraulic actuators, a class of soft artificial muscles, offer high performance but exhibit memory effects and hysteresis. Here w...

Predicting calcification risk in prosthetic aortic valves: a hybrid physics-based and machine learning approach

Abstract Calcific degeneration remains the foremost failure mode of bioprosthetic aortic valves and a mounting concern for polymeric substitutes. Six prosthetic valve configurations, pairing two leaflet scallop geometries (V-shaped D1 V and U-shaped D2 U ) with three constitutive...

Detectability of solid particle injections into the stratosphere with satellite solar occultation instruments

Stratospheric aerosol injections (SAI) have been proposed as a potential climate intervention to mitigate some effects of global warming. This method involves the idea of injecting sulphur dioxide into the stratosphere. Other ideas include the injection of solid particles, like a...

Similar pre-eruptive conditions behind contrasting explosive and effusive trachytic eruptions at Montagnone (Ischia volcano, Italy)

Abstract Most volcanoes on Earth display a range of eruptive styles, varying between effusive and explosive activity. Understanding the factors controlling these transitions is critical for volcanic hazard assessment but remains debated. While both pre-eruptive storage conditions...

A boost on the final stretch: intense river metabolism and wetland discharge increase aquatic CO 2 dynamics in the Danube Delta

Many river deltas are aquatic hot spots for carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions to the atmosphere. Their patchwork of wetlands, lakes, channels, and river reaches often complicates the analysis of CO 2 sources such as ecosystem respiration or lateral water transfer. Sensing techniqu...

Generation of a high-intensity, superthermal muonium beam for gravity and laser spectroscopy experiments

Abstract The universality of free fall, a cornerstone of Einstein’s theory of gravity, has so far only been tested with neutral composite states of first-generation standard model particles, such as atoms, neutrons and antihydrogen. Muonium, the bound state of a positively charge...

Low-Temperature Aqueous RAFT Depolymerization

Abstract The chemical recycling of polymers in aqueous media is a critical yet overlooked challenge in mitigating plastic waste. This research gap severely limits the scope of depolymerization and restricts our fundamental mechanistic understanding. Herein, we report the first aq...

Data-driven perimeter control: A Zürich case study

Urban traffic congestion is a key challenge for the development of modern cities, requiring advanced control techniques to optimize existing infrastructure usage. Despite the extensive availability of data, modeling such complex systems remains an expensive and time-consuming ste...

Discovery of an intrinsic non-Hermitian phase transition in a bulk condensed-matter system

Across regular phase transitions, systems remain in thermal equilibrium. However, when a system is driven far from equilibrium, non-Hermitian phase transitions may arise where the dynamical behavior—rather than steady properties—undergoes a qualitative change at a critical, so-ca...

Projected Changes in Wind Hazards From Extreme Extratropical Cyclones in the Northeastern U.S.

Abstract Extratropical Cyclones (ETCs) can produce high‐impact weather in mid‐latitudes, leading to extreme precipitation, winds, and storm surges. Despite the societal and economic impacts of ETCs, gaps remain in our understanding of how ETCs and their related hazards will chang...

Reassessment of a cosmic ray increase event in 1279/1280 CE using carbon-14 records of tree rings.

Extreme solar energetic particle events (ESPEs) rarely occur on the Sun, as known from cosmogenic isotope proxies, the primary being 14C measured in tree rings. Several such events have been identified in tree-ring 14C data as sharp spikes. The most recent spike, around 1279 CE,...

Nanoscale visualization of plasmon-enhanced hydrogen activation on a Pt(111) surface

Abstract Efficient H 2 activation under mild conditions is crucial for achieving energy-efficient catalytic hydrogenation, but this remains a major challenge. Here we demonstrate nanoscale visualization of plasmon-enhanced H 2 activation on Pt(111) at room temperature under visib...

Two-dimensional billiards are Turing complete

We show that two-dimensional billiard systems can simulate universal Turing machines. Billiards serve as idealized models of particle motion with elastic reflections and arise naturally as limits of smooth Hamiltonian systems under steep confining potentials, and as an exact refo...