Author(s): Michael Schirber
Two independent teams have searched for axions using x-ray observations of entire galaxies, setting some of the strictest constraints to date on the properties of these dark matter candidates.
[Physics 18, 93] Published Thu May 01, 2025
Author(s): Nathaniel C. Bishop
Machine learning automates the control of a large and highly connected array of semiconductor quantum dots.
[Physics 18, 88] Published Wed Apr 30, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
The results of a survey of middle-aged pulsars suggest that a feature previously seen around a handful of pulsars might be ubiquitous.
[Physics 18, s59] Published Wed Apr 30, 2025
Author(s): Julie Gould
A group of leading quantum scientists has published a manifesto aimed at supporting the participation of women in quantum science and technology and related fields.
[Physics 18, 92] Published Tue Apr 29, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
The demonstration that helical spin arrangements can be manipulated using electric currents holds promise for spin-based electronics.
[Physics 18, s47] Published Tue Apr 29, 2025
Author(s): Paola Arias
Researchers have turned NASA’s Parker Solar Probe into a dark-matter detector, taking advantage of its close encounters with the Sun to search for dark-photon signals.
[Physics 18, 91] Published Mon Apr 28, 2025
Author(s): Melissa Dancy
Departments and instructors are responsible for ensuring that their students are treated equitably, and it is time they put that responsibility into action.
[Physics 18, 87] Published Fri Apr 25, 2025
Author(s): Philip Ball
The segregation of two cell types at the earliest stages of embryo development may be enabled by differences in their stiffness.
[Physics 18, 90] Published Fri Apr 25, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Fish swimming in vertical diamond formations gain efficiency through hydrodynamic interactions.
[Physics 18, s52] Published Thu Apr 24, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Simulations show that polymers that include inert and self-propelled components are more likely to form and retain knots, with possible applications in materials engineering.
[Physics 18, s55] Published Thu Apr 24, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Experiments at the Large Hadron Collider have revealed a previously unseen nucleus known as antihyperhelium-4.
[Physics 18, s51] Published Wed Apr 23, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
An external magnetic field can bend and lift thin sheets of self-assembled nanoparticles.
[Physics 18, 86] Published Tue Apr 22, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The planned MUonE experiment could—in addition to studying the muon’s magnetic moment—search for dark matter particles.
[Physics 18, s50] Published Tue Apr 22, 2025
Author(s): Ananya Palivela
Two newly developed computer chips, powered in part by light, have tackled complex computing tasks once considered out of reach for photonic systems.
[Physics 18, 84] Published Mon Apr 21, 2025
Author(s): Morteza Kayyalha
A device made of multilayer graphene exhibits topologically protected edge currents whose direction can be switched using an electric field.
[Physics 18, 85] Published Mon Apr 21, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics says that a measurement can cause a splitting of reality into separate worlds.
[Physics 18, 83] Published Fri Apr 18, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
The distribution of dark matter around a pair of colliding galaxy clusters appears unaffected by a putative dark-sector version of electromagnetism.
[Physics 18, s48] Published Thu Apr 17, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Measurements reveal the physical processes occurring where a magnetic insulator and few-layer graphene abut each other.
[Physics 18, s45] Published Wed Apr 16, 2025
Author(s): Samuel Jarman
New experiments with thin superconducting films reveal an unexpected coexistence between two superconducting states—one in the bulk, the other at the surface.
[Physics 18, 82] Published Tue Apr 15, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
A new method for obtaining high-resolution images of cells from low-resolution ultrasound data enables longer, noninvasive monitoring of organisms.
[Physics 18, s49] Published Tue Apr 15, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
While seeking a visual metaphor to depict the wave-like behavior of matter, Julian Voss-Andreae forged a unique path merging quantum physics, art, and business.
[Physics 18, 76] Published Mon Apr 14, 2025
Author(s): Emanuele Polino
A powerful framework allows scientists to understand and classify joint quantum measurements—procedures essential for many quantum technologies.
[Physics 18, 80] Published Mon Apr 14, 2025
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Observations link turbulence in the ionosphere—a region essential for communications—with far-away disturbances associated with Earth’s magnetic field.
[Physics 18, 81] Published Fri Apr 11, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Improved methods for using electron spins to sense and control nuclear spins could benefit many quantum technologies.
[Physics 18, s38] Published Fri Apr 11, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A processor made of five-level, trapped-ion “ququints” captures the intricate particle–antiparticle interactions of quantum electrodynamics theory.
[Physics 18, 78] Published Thu Apr 10, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
A new experiment challenges the notion that only exotic materials exhibit nonlinear transport phenomena.
[Physics 18, s44] Published Thu Apr 10, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
A single molecule provides a controllable connection between a normal metal and a superconductor.
[Physics 18, 79] Published Wed Apr 09, 2025
Author(s): Agnese Curatolo
The interplay between microscopic and macroscopic dynamics in a brain-like network enhances the robustness of a state that optimizes the network’s performance.
[Physics 18, s54] Published Wed Apr 09, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers are developing highly reflective thin films that could be installed on small light-propelled spacecraft.
[Physics 18, 77] Published Tue Apr 08, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Arranging nonmagnetic atoms on the surface of an unconventional superconductor could induce a novel phenomenon called altermagnetic superconductivity.
[Physics 18, s42] Published Tue Apr 08, 2025
Author(s): Niseem Magdy Abdelrahman
Top quarks and antiquarks have been detected in heavy-ion collisions at the Large Hadron Collider, showing that all six quark flavors were present in the Universe’s first moments.
[Physics 18, 75] Published Mon Apr 07, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Elena Pinetti searches for dark matter using JWST calibration images that other researchers discard.
[Physics 18, 73] Published Fri Apr 04, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers have demonstrated a method for suppressing unwanted electrons in bright electron beam sources.
[Physics 18, s40] Published Thu Apr 03, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Transforming an MRI brain scan into a hyperbolic network of nodes allows researchers to detect brain connectivity disruption caused by Alzheimer’s disease.
[Physics 18, 70] Published Wed Apr 02, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A new theory unveils the exotic low-energy excitations of quasicrystals formed of quantum particles.
[Physics 18, s39] Published Wed Apr 02, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
Observations by the JWST observatory of a star-free super-Jupiter reveal large-scale inhomogeneities in its atmosphere.
[Physics 18, 69] Published Tue Apr 01, 2025
Author(s): Philip Ball
The messy breakup of a liquid droplet that occurs when it hits a surface can be suppressed by giving the droplet an electrical charge.
[Physics 18, 74] Published Tue Apr 01, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
The fidelity of a complex system’s representation as a network model depends on the diversity of its interconnections.
[Physics 18, s43] Published Tue Apr 01, 2025
Author(s): Daniele Marinazzo
A new study of complex systems supports a growing trend that focuses more on analyzing a system’s collective behavior rather than on trying to uncover the underlying interaction mechanisms.
[Physics 18, 71] Published Mon Mar 31, 2025
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Measurements of millions of galaxies suggest that dark energy changes over time and is more complicated than previously thought.
[Physics 18, 72] Published Fri Mar 28, 2025
Author(s): Susan Curtis
Language models such as ChatGPT could help university educators provide more consistent and transparent grades for introductory-level physics exams.
[Physics 18, 67] Published Thu Mar 27, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
An intense x-ray pulse from a free-electron laser sends a protein’s atoms flying off in directions that reveal the protein’s structure.
[Physics 18, s37] Published Thu Mar 27, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Experiments with erbium ions show that they can be used to create entangled photons in the telecom band—an important step in building quantum repeaters.
[Physics 18, s41] Published Wed Mar 26, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
New experiments with virtual reality suggest that locusts do not follow traditional rules of collective behavior.
[Physics 18, 66] Published Tue Mar 25, 2025
Author(s): Katrin Erath-Dulitz
The heating effect of microwaves has long been used to accelerate reactions. A new experiment shows that microwaves can also excite molecules into a less reactive state.
[Physics 18, 63] Published Mon Mar 24, 2025
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Experiments suggest that cells pack in more ordered patterns as the relative sizes of their nuclei grow.
[Physics 18, 65] Published Fri Mar 21, 2025
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Microsoft’s announcement of achieving a milestone in a potentially transformative approach to quantum computing is met with skepticism by researchers attending the APS Global Summit.
[Physics 18, 68] Published Fri Mar 21, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
The winners of the annual “Gallery of Soft Matter” competition included posters and videos depicting wiggling worms, wrinkly leaves, sun-shy algae, flowing solids, and drying fibers.
[Physics 18, 61] Published Thu Mar 20, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
An achiral metasurface selectively transmits two beams of opposite chirality.
[Physics 18, s34] Published Thu Mar 20, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Experiments support a controversial proposal to generate electricity from our planet’s rotation by using a device that interacts with Earth’s magnetic field.
[Physics 18, 62] Published Wed Mar 19, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
The Euclid satellite released its first trove of galaxy data based on seven days of deep-field observations in three sky areas.
[Physics 18, 64] Published Wed Mar 19, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A characteristic feature of twisted graphene bilayers has now been seen in an analogous acoustic system.
[Physics 18, s35] Published Wed Mar 19, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Measuring how efficiently an isotope captures neutrons of various energies both confirms and refutes some surprising recent results.
[Physics 18, s33] Published Tue Mar 18, 2025
Author(s): Davide Calonico
Researchers have characterized the temperature-induced frequency shifts of a thorium-229 nuclear transition—an important step in establishing thorium clocks as next-generation frequency standards.
[Physics 18, 60] Published Mon Mar 17, 2025
Author(s): David Lindley
Researchers proposed methods to preserve the integrity of quantum bits—techniques that may become the key to practical quantum computing on a large scale.
[Physics 18, 59] Published Fri Mar 14, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers have proposed methods to tune the properties of altermagnets, a step toward practical applications for this new form of magnet.
[Physics 18, 58] Published Thu Mar 13, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
Illuminating a metasurface with a laser can enable the rapid modulation of the polarization of terahertz light transmitted through the metasurface.
[Physics 18, s24] Published Thu Mar 13, 2025
Author(s): Yuval Grossman and Yosef Nir
A symmetry violation has been observed in a particle-decay process that—together with five related decays—could shed light on the matter–antimatter imbalance in the Universe.
[Physics 18, 56] Published Wed Mar 12, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Time crystals realized in the so-called quasiperiodic regime hold promise for future applications in quantum computing and sensing.
[Physics 18, s28] Published Wed Mar 12, 2025
Author(s): Samuel Jarman
JWST observations reveal two distinct types of flares from the Milky Way’s black hole, suggesting that they originate from two different electron-acceleration mechanisms within the supermassive black hole’s accretion disk.
[Physics 18, 55] Published Tue Mar 11, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Experiments have shown that heavy-ion irradiation of biomolecules in aqueous environments efficiently triggers DNA-destroying cascades.
[Physics 18, s32] Published Tue Mar 11, 2025
Author(s): David Lindley
Theorists proposed an idea they called quantum teleportation—a means of transferring the identity of one particle to another over some distance.
[Physics 18, 52] Published Mon Mar 10, 2025
Author(s): Davide Donadio and Giulia Galli
Computational spectroscopy reveals a possible signature of strongly hydrogen-bonded wires in water and ice.
[Physics 18, 54] Published Mon Mar 10, 2025
Author(s): Philip Ball
Tech giant Microsoft claimed in a recent press release to have made the first topological qubit–an important milestone in the development of quantum computers. But some experts say the firm’s claim has not been backed up by peer-reviewed research.
[Physics 18, 57] Published Mon Mar 10, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
A neutron-scattering experiment has confirmed the existence of an unusual phase of ice that forms at high temperature and high pressure.
[Physics 18, 47] Published Fri Mar 07, 2025
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
The discovery of a mini aurora above a light-emitting polymer material reveals an electron-ejection process that might be useful in field-emission displays and material fabrication.
[Physics 18, 51] Published Fri Mar 07, 2025
Author(s): Dan Garisto
In 1964, Bell showed that quantum physics predicts correlations that violate certain inequalities. The work implied that quantum mechanics is not compatible with locality, even if there were “hidden variables” not accounted for in quantum theory.
[Physics 18, 53] Published Fri Mar 07, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
The quantum properties of superconducting qubits might be improved by coating them with a noble metal such as gold.
[Physics 18, s23] Published Thu Mar 06, 2025
Author(s): Eyal Kroupp and Tal Queller
Temporal measurements in conditions similar to those in the Sun rebut a leading hypothesis for why models and experiments disagree on how much light iron absorbs.
[Physics 18, 44] Published Wed Mar 05, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
When men and women physics undergraduates receive the same amount of recognition from their peers for being good at physics, men report significantly higher perceptions of peer recognition than women.
[Physics 18, 50] Published Wed Mar 05, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
An all-dielectric version of a metamaterials-based cavity allows the cavity to operate over a previously inaccessible wavelength range—which could benefit lasers and other resonant devices.
[Physics 18, s36] Published Wed Mar 05, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The tension—a disagreement between cosmic-clumpiness measurements—is not going away, according to a new analysis of galaxy lensing data.
[Physics 18, 49] Published Tue Mar 04, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Experiments identify temperature ranges where exotic materials known as spin ices are in equilibrium or out of equilibrium.
[Physics 18, s29] Published Tue Mar 04, 2025
Author(s): Barry C. Sanders
A new high-performance quantum processor boasts 105 superconducting qubits and rivals Google’s acclaimed Willow processor.
[Physics 18, 45] Published Mon Mar 03, 2025
Author(s): David Lindley
Aharonov and Bohm proposed a scenario in which quantum particles experience electromagnetic effects even though there is no field in their immediate vicinity.
[Physics 18, 48] Published Mon Mar 03, 2025
Author(s): Philip Ball
A new imaging technique can show the wave-like behavior of unconfined quantum particles.
[Physics 18, 46] Published Fri Feb 28, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers at the Large Hadron Collider have measured the spin parity of a charm-quark-hosting particle, offering a new test of theoretical models.
[Physics 18, s16] Published Fri Feb 28, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Observations of molybdenum nuclei have revealed no signs of a speculative nuclear decay called neutrinoless double-beta decay, setting a strong constraint on this process.
[Physics 18, s21] Published Thu Feb 27, 2025
Author(s): Andrei Sirenko
A new formula that connects a material’s magnetic permeability to spin dynamics has been derived and tested 84 years after the debut of its electric counterpart.
[Physics 18, 31] Published Wed Feb 26, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
A comparison of neutrinos measured 1 km and 810 km from their source finds no evidence of a putative fourth neutrino flavor.
[Physics 18, s30] Published Wed Feb 26, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers have demonstrated a method to create circular polarizing films from nonchiral nanoclusters that form spiral chains during drying.
[Physics 18, 43] Published Tue Feb 25, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Experiments show that iron’s crystal lattice expands to incorporate helium.
[Physics 18, s22] Published Tue Feb 25, 2025
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Researchers showed that a turbulent Bose-Einstein condensate exhibits the signs of classical turbulence, hinting at possible similarities between classical and quantum fluids.
[Physics 18, s31] Published Tue Feb 25, 2025
Author(s): David Lindley
The discovery of a small discrepancy in hydrogen’s atomic spectrum came at just the right time to push quantum theory forward.
[Physics 18, 41] Published Mon Feb 24, 2025
Author(s): Sara Campbell
The demonstration that ions can be precisely manipulated in a trap containing integrated photonics paves the way for a large-scale trapped-ion quantum processor.
[Physics 18, 40] Published Mon Feb 24, 2025
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
In the Phoenix galaxy cluster, the presence of a black hole allows gas to cool, collapse, and form stars at an extremely high rate, in contrast with other clusters where the black hole heats the gas and slows star formation.
[Physics 18, 39] Published Fri Feb 21, 2025
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
An array of holes in a 2D material enhances an effect that improves the flow of electric currents.
[Physics 18, 42] Published Fri Feb 21, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
A two-player team that shares a pair of entangled particles can outplay a team that uses only classical strategies.
[Physics 18, s27] Published Fri Feb 21, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Observations of a new deformation mode of ice could improve models of sea-level rise.
[Physics 18, 38] Published Thu Feb 20, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A new strategy allows scientists to find and make materials that host so-called heavy electrons without requiring rare-earth or actinide elements.
[Physics 18, s15] Published Thu Feb 20, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
A huge bibliographical study has uncovered a strong correlation between researchers’ productivity as postdocs and their productivity as faculty members.
[Physics 18, 34] Published Wed Feb 19, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Theoretical work indicates that a realistic model of a one-dimensional quantum magnet has a topologically nontrivial ground state.
[Physics 18, s19] Published Wed Feb 19, 2025
Author(s): David Lindley
Einstein and his coauthors claimed to show that quantum mechanics led to logical contradictions. The objections exposed the theory’s strangest predictions.
[Physics 18, 36] Published Tue Feb 18, 2025
Author(s): Elisa Todarello
Measurements made by the JWST observatory could be used to detect photons emitted by the decay of a hypothetical form of dark matter particle known as the axion.
[Physics 18, 29] Published Tue Feb 18, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Predictions of theories that combine quantum mechanics with gravity could be observed using highly sensitive photon detection in a tabletop experiment.
[Physics 18, 37] Published Fri Feb 14, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers are unraveling the influence of energetic particles on the stability of plasmas in fusion reactors.
[Physics 18, 33] Published Thu Feb 13, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Renate Pazourek develops software tools that Austrian government agencies use to audit tax returns and other financial documents.
[Physics 18, 7] Published Thu Feb 13, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
An enigmatic and anomalous metallic state turns out to be intrinsic rather than a consequence of crystalline defects.
[Physics 18, s26] Published Thu Feb 13, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A new underwater neutrino experiment—for now, only partially installed—has detected what appears to be the highest-energy cosmic neutrino observed to date.
[Physics 18, 35] Published Wed Feb 12, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A new model captures the flow of heat from ocean water into floating ice, providing an important input for efforts to predict future melting in the Arctic.
[Physics 18, s18] Published Wed Feb 12, 2025
Author(s): Samuel Jarman
An updated method for detecting trace amounts of gases could allow researchers to identify minuscule amounts of multiple gases in the same sample.
[Physics 18, 25] Published Tue Feb 11, 2025
Author(s): Philip Ball
The first measurement of gravity using quantum mechanically entangled atoms demonstrates the potential of the approach.
[Physics 18, 32] Published Tue Feb 11, 2025
Author(s): Nyla Husain
A seminal paper by Paul Dirac, who relied on mathematical intuition, laid the foundation for quantum electrodynamics.
[Physics 18, 20] Published Mon Feb 10, 2025
Author(s): Ragnar Stroberg
A new computational method could help scientists understand the shapes of deformed nuclei from first principles.
[Physics 18, 28] Published Mon Feb 10, 2025
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
An ultrasoft material can move smoothly through a pipe, but the motion generates “furrows” on the material’s front surface.
[Physics 18, 30] Published Fri Feb 07, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The official launch of the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology happened in Paris, with a push to make “quantum” more accessible to all.
[Physics 18, 27] Published Thu Feb 06, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
Theorists propose that repulsive interactions between electrons in a two-dimensional lattice can lead to an exotic form of superconductivity.
[Physics 18, s20] Published Thu Feb 06, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
The scattering of a charged particle off a magnetic monopole does not imply the existence of fractional particle numbers, theorists say.
[Physics 18, s25] Published Thu Feb 06, 2025
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Jorge Cham, aka, PHD Comics, in collaboration with Physics Magazine, has designed the official mascot for the International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
[Physics 18, 26] Published Wed Feb 05, 2025
Author(s): Phillip Ball
The creation of modern quantum mechanics was a messy business in which many of the participants did not grasp the significance of their own discoveries.
[Physics 18, 24] Published Tue Feb 04, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A circuit containing four superconducting devices called Josephson junctions can be finely tuned for various technological applications.
[Physics 18, s12] Published Tue Feb 04, 2025
Author(s): Chelsea Wald
Davisson and Germer showed that electrons scatter from a crystal the way x rays do, proving that particles of matter can act like waves.
[Physics 18, 23] Published Mon Feb 03, 2025
Author(s): N. Eugene Engelbrecht and R. Du Toit Strauss
The spectrum of cosmic-ray antiprotons has been measured for a full solar cycle, which may allow a better understanding of the sources and transport mechanisms of these high-energy particles.
[Physics 18, 19] Published Mon Feb 03, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Scientists have pinpointed energy-efficient ways to cook al dente pasta and developed an infallible recipe for the perfect cacio e pepe sauce.
[Physics 18, 22] Published Fri Jan 31, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Researchers have identified why most climate models don’t match up with an observed cooling trend in the tropics.
[Physics 18, 21] Published Thu Jan 30, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
At low temperatures the resistance of a layered magnetic semiconductor shoots up and down in response to an increasing magnetic field.
[Physics 18, s14] Published Thu Jan 30, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
Simulations demonstrate that light can be confined within a scattering medium in a way similar to electrons in a disordered metal.
[Physics 18, s10] Published Wed Jan 29, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
An algorithm allows the states of certain quantum systems to be determined from data more quickly than was previously possible.
[Physics 18, s17] Published Tue Jan 28, 2025
Author(s): David C. Cassidy
Arthur Compton’s results convinced most skeptics that in some experiments, light can act like a stream of particles.
[Physics 18, 18] Published Mon Jan 27, 2025
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Conventional theory has trouble predicting the conditions that will cause a liquid to boil, but a neural-network-based approach performs better.
[Physics 18, 17] Published Fri Jan 24, 2025
Author(s): Susan Curtis
Physicists have demonstrated a quantum machine that could reduce errors in quantum computers by ensuring that the qubits they use remain in their initial state before a calculation starts.
[Physics 18, 16] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Seong Jim Kim and Myoung-Woon Moon of the Korea Institute of Science and Technology have developed a device that can “vacuum” up tiny pieces of plastic floating on the surface of a body of water.
[Physics 18, 6] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Roughing up the surfaces of particles in a colloidal system can smooth its transition into a glassy state.
[Physics 18, s11] Published Thu Jan 23, 2025
Author(s): Jennifer Ouellette
In one of his annus mirabilis papers, Einstein explained the photoelectric effect by considering light as a stream of energy quanta—which were later called photons.
[Physics 18, 15] Published Wed Jan 22, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Noise is typically detrimental to quantum effects, but simulations suggest that it can boost entanglement under certain conditions.
[Physics 18, s5] Published Wed Jan 22, 2025
Author(s): Sachin Rawat
Researchers predict that having extra sets of chromosomes can both speed up and slow down the evolution of an organism, depending on the organism’s “fitness landscape.”
[Physics 18, 14] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025
Author(s): Kohei Kawabata
Three theoretical studies have uncovered novel types of topological order inherent in open quantum systems, enriching our understanding of quantum phases of matter.
[Physics 18, 9] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Powerful shock waves around magnetized neutron stars may be the source of mysterious radio bursts that are observed across the sky.
[Physics 18, s13] Published Tue Jan 21, 2025
Author(s): Gerald Holton
The experiment provided further proof of the reality of photons, yet Millikan didn’t accept their existence until later in his career.
[Physics 18, 12] Published Fri Jan 17, 2025
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Measurements of grains flowing down an inclined plane have uncovered general principles that may help researchers model rockslides and other granular flows.
[Physics 18, 13] Published Fri Jan 17, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers predict the existence of a class of particles that behave differently from those already known.
[Physics 18, 11] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers have built an optical clock using an array of trapped ions—an architecture that can be scaled up to boost the clock’s precision.
[Physics 18, s7] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers find that two types of biological magnetic sensor can sense fields close to the quantum limit, a finding that could guide the design of lab-made devices.
[Physics 18, s8] Published Thu Jan 16, 2025
Author(s): Susan Curtis
A cryogenic microscope reveals the atomic-scale processes that disrupt the charge-ordered state in a material as the temperature rises.
[Physics 18, 10] Published Wed Jan 15, 2025
Author(s): Agnese Curatolo
A new model reveals that bursts of neural activity known as critical avalanches underlie the brain’s ability to respond consistently to stimuli.
[Physics 18, s4] Published Wed Jan 15, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
The discovery of an isotope, rutherfordium-252, whose ground state forestalls fission for just 60 nanoseconds, could help theorists understand the cosmic synthesis of superheavy elements.
[Physics 18, 8] Published Tue Jan 14, 2025
Author(s): Martin Rodriguez-Vega
Researchers have measured graphene’s plasmon spectrum using a novel electron-based spectroscopy technique.
[Physics 18, s9] Published Tue Jan 14, 2025
Author(s): Dominik Dold
By incorporating electrical pulses with shapes similar to those of the spikes from biological neurons, researchers improved the ability to train energy-efficient types of neural networks.
[Physics 18, 5] Published Mon Jan 13, 2025
In a Salt Lake City museum, the Traveling Gallery of Fluid Motion invites visitors to connect art and science, as the famous Italian polymath did.
[Physics 18, 4] Published Thu Jan 09, 2025
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A new method for fixing errors in quantum computations can be just as accurate as previous approaches while needing fewer resources.
[Physics 18, s3] Published Thu Jan 09, 2025
Author(s): Marric Stephens
The energy required to fracture a lattice material obeys a scaling law governed by just three parameters, researchers find.
[Physics 18, s1] Published Wed Jan 08, 2025
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers show they can magnetize an antiferromagnet using terahertz light, switching the state on a million times faster than is possible for other magnetic states.
[Physics 18, 3] Published Tue Jan 07, 2025
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
A new training technique could increase the number of physical systems that could serve as AI platforms.
[Physics 18, s6] Published Tue Jan 07, 2025
Author(s): Paul Romatschke
Simulations of neutron stars provide new bounds on their properties, such as their internal pressure and their maximum mass.
[Physics 18, 1] Published Mon Jan 06, 2025
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Shooting a laser pulse at a porous silver target generates more intense x rays than previous targets, which will help studies of matter in extreme conditions.
[Physics 18, 2] Published Fri Jan 03, 2025
Author(s): Charles Day
A previously neglected spin–orbit-coupling effect could be strong enough to engender unconventional superconductivity in certain materials.
[Physics 18, s2] Published Thu Jan 02, 2025
Author(s): Rainer Klages
A new theory related to the second law of thermodynamics describes the motion of active biological systems ranging from migrating cells to traveling birds.
[Physics 17, 182] Published Mon Dec 23, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A proposed method could detect vortex states of high-energy particles through a scattering phenomenon called a superkick.
[Physics 17, s157] Published Mon Dec 23, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A method for imaging spin waves in magnetic materials uses flash-like intensity variations in a laser beam to capture the wave motion at specific moments in time.
[Physics 17, 186] Published Fri Dec 20, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
An independent analysis of data on the hotly debated superconductivity of certain hydrogen-rich compounds, or hydrides, concludes that the phenomenon is likely genuine.
[Physics 17, 184] Published Thu Dec 19, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
New experiments with cuprate materials explore a connection between so-called charge-density waves and a light-induced state that resembles superconductivity.
[Physics 17, s154] Published Thu Dec 19, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A theory outlines an immunization protocol that fosters powerful antibodies while avoiding immune-cell death.
[Physics 17, s159] Published Thu Dec 19, 2024
Author(s): Julie Gould and Matteo Rini
Researchers from the Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator Center talk about their latest results on a laser-based particle-acceleration technique that could lead to cheaper and more compact x-ray sources and particle accelerators.
[Physics 17, 185] Published Wed Dec 18, 2024
Author(s): Marlene Turner
A laser-driven electron accelerator delivers beams of 10-GeV electrons—an approach that could lead to cheaper, more compact alternatives to large-scale x-ray sources and particle accelerators.
[Physics 17, 183] Published Wed Dec 18, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
By measuring the melting temperature of iron under high transient pressure, researchers set a limit on the temperature at the boundary between the inner and outer cores.
[Physics 17, s139] Published Wed Dec 18, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
A black hole accreting mass above the so-called Eddington limit may explain how supermassive black holes reach billions of times the mass of our Sun.
[Physics 17, 180] Published Tue Dec 17, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Minerals exposed during an ancient Mediterranean Sea desiccation should reveal damage caused by muons, providing evidence of enhanced cosmic-ray fluxes.
[Physics 17, s136] Published Tue Dec 17, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Atomic simulations deepen the mystery of how engineered materials known as refractory high-entropy alloys can suffer so little damage by radiation.
[Physics 17, s156] Published Tue Dec 17, 2024
Physics Magazine Editors pick their favorite stories from 2024.
[Physics 17, 181] Published Mon Dec 16, 2024
Author(s): Fabian Grusdt
By controlling the motion and interaction of individual atoms in a cold-atom ensemble, researchers have produced a correlated topological state of matter, called a fractional quantum Hall state.
[Physics 17, 178] Published Mon Dec 16, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Measuring gravitational analogues of quantum phenomena could lead to high-precision measurement of gravitational forces, according to a theoretical proposal.
[Physics 17, 179] Published Fri Dec 13, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Astrophysicist and science communicator Neil deGrasse Tyson shares some thoughts on why and how scientists should communicate to the public.
[Physics 17, 175] Published Thu Dec 12, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Researchers have devised a way to use atoms in optical lattices to model high-temperature superconductors, whose behavior is not yet fully understood.
[Physics 17, s144] Published Thu Dec 12, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
A simplified model of how yarns interact shows that a piece of knitted fabric can have many stable resting states depending on its history of deformation.
[Physics 17, s153] Published Thu Dec 12, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Studies of influenza A’s unusual propulsion strategy suggest that drugs could target a critical protein.
[Physics 17, 177] Published Wed Dec 11, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Calculations have uncovered two previously unknown forces that act on nonspherical particles in a sound field.
[Physics 17, s155] Published Wed Dec 11, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Experiments with colloidal particles have uncovered conditions where an intermediate layer that separates a crystallizing liquid from its solid forms.
[Physics 17, s149] Published Tue Dec 10, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini and Michael Schirber
Researchers at Google Quantum AI have demonstrated “below-threshold” error correction, a necessary condition for building noise-resistant quantum computers that are sufficiently large to perform useful computations.
[Physics 17, 176] Published Mon Dec 09, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Through its interactions with a crystal, light becomes an opaque object—an effect that could be harnessed in applications.
[Physics 17, 174] Published Mon Dec 09, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
A proposed remote-sensing scheme could potentially probe targets hundreds of kilometers away and uses one of the strangest quantum properties of light.
[Physics 17, 173] Published Fri Dec 06, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Scientists have devised a way to use current gravitational-wave detectors to observe permanent deformations of spacetime caused by certain supernovae.
[Physics 17, s152] Published Thu Dec 05, 2024
Author(s): Susan Curtis
The demonstration of the first fully functioning mechanical qubit offers a new platform for quantum information processing and could lead to ultraprecise gravity sensors.
[Physics 17, 172] Published Wed Dec 04, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Nuclear scattering data suggest the possible observation of a predicted but never-observed nuclear vibration.
[Physics 17, s146] Published Wed Dec 04, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Prize-winning videos cover the range from microscopic droplets to global climate.
[Physics 17, 171] Published Tue Dec 03, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Cell–cell alignment and a background of stationary cells together shape the emergence of cellular clusters in a primary tumor.
[Physics 17, s141] Published Tue Dec 03, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
A new method for controlling the interactions between ultracold atoms and light could advance efforts to simulate complex quantum systems using atom clouds.
[Physics 17, 170] Published Mon Dec 02, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A new analysis challenges the claim that a gamma-ray signal observed from a direction near the Milky Way’s center is produced by a dwarf galaxy.
[Physics 17, s147] Published Mon Dec 02, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Researchers used machine learning to optimize the process by which a tiny cage is opened to release a molecule.
[Physics 17, 169] Published Wed Nov 27, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Forces imposed by laser light can manipulate the shape of a membrane’s vibrational modes.
[Physics 17, s148] Published Wed Nov 27, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Observations confirm a theoretical model explaining how—in Earth’s magnetosphere—large-scale magnetic waves heat up the magnetosphere’s plasma by transferring their energy to smaller-scale acoustic waves.
[Physics 17, 168] Published Tue Nov 26, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Erbium and similar elements provide a wide range of electronic “handles” for manipulating atoms in many-body quantum experiments.
[Physics 17, s151] Published Tue Nov 26, 2024
Author(s): Carmelo Evoli
A new analysis of more than a decade’s worth of observations extends the spectrum of cosmic-ray electrons to unprecedented high energies.
[Physics 17, 165] Published Mon Nov 25, 2024
Author(s): Sachin Rawat
A new recipe for making hydrogels delivers a material that is both flexible and semiconducting—desired properties for interfaces in implantable medical devices.
[Physics 17, 167] Published Fri Nov 22, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A new analysis of B-meson decays strongly hints that they harbor physics beyond the standard model.
[Physics 17, s142] Published Thu Nov 21, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
By manipulating and detecting nuclear spins in a tiny floating diamond, scientists have reported a record-long spin coherence time for a levitated system.
[Physics 17, s143] Published Thu Nov 21, 2024
Author(s): Carlos Mejuto-Zaera
A new framework that embeds electrons in a surrounding bath captures nonlocal correlation effects that are relevant to metals, semiconductors, and correlated insulators.
[Physics 17, 164] Published Wed Nov 20, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Contrary to conventional wisdom, a lattice of engineered nanoparticles called meta-atoms can have a chiral optical response even when each meta-atom is not chiral.
[Physics 17, s135] Published Wed Nov 20, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Low-frequency radio observations could allow researchers to distinguish among several dark matter models, thanks to dark matter’s influence on the early Universe.
[Physics 17, s132] Published Tue Nov 19, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The experimental confirmation of supersolid vortices opens the prospect of making and studying laboratory analogues of rotating neutron stars.
[Physics 17, 166] Published Mon Nov 18, 2024
Author(s): Benjamin Rotenberg
The identification of a new type of symmetry in statistical mechanics could help scientists derive and interpret fundamental relationships in this branch of physics.
[Physics 17, 163] Published Mon Nov 18, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
The observation of a previously unseen photon delay in the production of quantum light has implications for the development of quantum technologies.
[Physics 17, s130] Published Thu Nov 14, 2024
Author(s): Agnese Curatolo
A new frequency-based analysis of recordings from neurons in the brain may give insight into brain pathologies such as Parkinson’s disease.
[Physics 17, s145] Published Wed Nov 13, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers have characterized the naturally occurring background radiation hitting a typical quantum circuit—a result that might help with the engineering of devices that are less vulnerable to radiation-induced decoherence.
[Physics 17, s140] Published Tue Nov 12, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A theoretical model shows that exchange of information plays a key role in the molecular machines found in biological cells.
[Physics 17, 162] Published Fri Nov 08, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Two dark matter searches report that their detectors have likely recorded neutrinos coming from the Sun—spotting the “neutrino fog” that could imperil future dark matter searches.
[Physics 17, 161] Published Thu Nov 07, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Crystals that have both a particular structure and a particular combination of electronic orbitals can be simultaneously ferromagnetic and ferroelectric.
[Physics 17, s131] Published Thu Nov 07, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
By repeatedly applying coats of a hardening polymer to a surface, researchers have created rubbery stalactite-like formations that could be useful in soft robotics.
[Physics 17, s138] Published Wed Nov 06, 2024
Author(s): Susan Curtis
A theoretical analysis suggests that a novel “twisting “microscope could offer new insights into the exotic electronic behavior of layered 2D materials.
[Physics 17, 160] Published Tue Nov 05, 2024
Author(s): Nikhil Karthik
A low-energy signature of physics beyond the standard model fails to appear in proton collisions at the Large Hadron Collider.
[Physics 17, s137] Published Tue Nov 05, 2024
Author(s): W. Michael Snow
By exploiting polarized-gas collisions, researchers have conducted a sensitive search for exotic spin-dependent interactions, placing new constraints on a dark matter candidate called the axion.
[Physics 17, 157] Published Mon Nov 04, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
A scheme that moves electromagnetically trapped ions around a 2D array of sites could aid development of scaled-up ion-based quantum computing.
[Physics 17, 159] Published Fri Nov 01, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A “Little Earth Experiment” inside a giant magnet sheds light on so-far-unexplained flow patterns in Earth’s interior.
[Physics 17, 142] Published Thu Oct 31, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Breaking the problem into pieces makes it easier to design a fusion reactor’s coils for optimum energy confinement.
[Physics 17, s124] Published Thu Oct 31, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Sometimes a rotating molecule can transition to a new state only if an electron carries away some of the molecule’s angular momentum.
[Physics 17, s134] Published Thu Oct 31, 2024
Author(s): Michael J. W. Hall
Simulations deliver hints on how the multiverse produced according to the many-worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics might be compatible with our stable, classical Universe.
[Physics 17, 155] Published Wed Oct 30, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A new model of liquid sprays reveals the mechanisms behind droplet formation—providing important information for eventually controlling the droplet sizes in, for example, home cleaning sprays.
[Physics 17, 158] Published Tue Oct 29, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A light beam with orbital angular momentum can produce the rotational analog of the Doppler effect on an ion.
[Physics 17, s133] Published Tue Oct 29, 2024
Author(s): Eric Lutz
By manipulating a nitrogen vacancy’s single spin, researchers have shown that the more coherent the system is, the more work can be extracted from it.
[Physics 17, 154] Published Mon Oct 28, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
By observing two fighting fish, researchers have decoded the repertoire of trajectories and body postures used in the interaction—and identified the winner.
[Physics 17, 156] Published Fri Oct 25, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Theoretical work provides a long-awaited explanation for why measurements of qubits in superconducting quantum computers are less accurate than expected.
[Physics 17, s126] Published Thu Oct 24, 2024
Author(s): Christian Roos
A way to address the individual ions of a rotating ion crystal could allow scientists to perform quantum simulations in which each qubit can be carefully controlled.
[Physics 17, 152] Published Wed Oct 23, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
An automatic, algorithmic technique can find optimal laser configurations for inertial-confinement fusion—one of two main fusion approaches.
[Physics 17, s127] Published Wed Oct 23, 2024
Author(s): Susan Curtis
Applying data mining tools to a rich observational dataset has enabled researchers to track the turbulent plasma clouds that accompany the aurora.
[Physics 17, s128] Published Tue Oct 22, 2024
Author(s): Sophia Heinz
Scientists have synthesized an isotope of the superheavy element livermorium using a novel fusion reaction. The result paves the way for the discovery of new chemical elements.
[Physics 17, 150] Published Mon Oct 21, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A new method for studying the behavior of multiparticle systems relies on a simple “head count” of particles in imaginary boxes.
[Physics 17, 153] Published Fri Oct 18, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Axions—theorized particles that could account for dark matter—could accumulate around rapidly rotating neutron stars to the point that they become detectable.
[Physics 17, s114] Published Thu Oct 17, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
The prediction that twisted semiconductor bilayers can host so-called non-Abelian states without a magnetic field holds promise for fault-tolerant quantum computing.
[Physics 17, s129] Published Thu Oct 17, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Emus inherited from their dinosaur ancestors a crouched posture that dictates the gait they adopt when moving quickly, according to a new computer simulation of bird motion.
[Physics 17, 151] Published Wed Oct 16, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Theorists have developed a model to explain how a protein structure keeps its position while being buffeted by currents.
[Physics 17, s125] Published Wed Oct 16, 2024
Author(s): Fangwei Ye
Overlapping two 3D lattices with a relative twist opens the door to synthesizing crystals with diverse symmetries that showcase nontrivial band structures and novel properties.
[Physics 17, 147] Published Tue Oct 15, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A quantum degeneracy named after a Chinese yo-yo boosts the magnetization lifetime of a short chain of magnetic iron atoms by a factor of 1000.
[Physics 17, s118] Published Tue Oct 15, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A rare configuration of seven galaxies aligned behind a galaxy cluster allows researchers to probe with high precision the dark matter distribution within the cluster.
[Physics 17, 148] Published Fri Oct 11, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
The algorithm called AlphaFold has now been used to predict structures for all known proteins.
[Physics 17, 149] Published Fri Oct 11, 2024
Author(s): Susan Curtis
The mitigation of a previously neglected energy-loss mechanism in organic light-emitting diodes has enabled researchers to enhance both efficiency and lifetime of these devices.
[Physics 17, s115] Published Thu Oct 10, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Despite its intensity, the gravitational collapse of certain massive stars does not produce an abundance of heavy elements.
[Physics 17, s122] Published Wed Oct 09, 2024
The 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics honors pioneering work on artificial neural networks, which provided the foundation for many of the artificial intelligence technologies in use today.
[Physics 17, 146] Published Tue Oct 08, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
When two laser beams converge on a volume of gas, their interference creates a diffraction grating made of plasma that can divert and shape a third beam.
[Physics 17, s123] Published Tue Oct 08, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Ciarchi and Ivan Di Terlizzi
Bacteria, cells, swarms, and other organisms pluck information from noisy environments with extraordinarily high precision.
[Physics 17, 143] Published Mon Oct 07, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
An infrared detector is sensitive to a wide range of intensities and could potentially pick up biomarkers from exoplanet atmospheres.
[Physics 17, 144] Published Mon Oct 07, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A short-lived combination of an electron and an antielectron has been cooled with lasers to near absolute zero—a step toward tackling fundamental questions about matter and antimatter.
[Physics 17, 145] Published Fri Oct 04, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
By observing the motion of preschool children, researchers have developed a thermodynamic description of human movement that pinpoints collective phases emerging when social interactions are strong.
[Physics 17, s111] Published Thu Oct 03, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
New experimental results from the Large Hadron Collider argue against the existence of multiple Higgs bosons, as predicted in certain “beyond-standard-model” theories.
[Physics 17, s119] Published Wed Oct 02, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Imposing time-dependent strain on a magnetic disk induces vortex dynamics and offers a path toward energy-efficient spintronic devices.
[Physics 17, s117] Published Tue Oct 01, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
As part of an effort to establish a lunar time standard, researchers have used relativity to calculate time differences between Earth and the Moon.
[Physics 17, 140] Published Mon Sep 30, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
A lab-scale model provides a testing ground for studying the breakup of ice sheets or of other thin solids floating on the surface of a fluid.
[Physics 17, 141] Published Fri Sep 27, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Magnetic feedback causes two atomic gases to guide each other’s spins into long-lasting collective alignment.
[Physics 17, s116] Published Thu Sep 26, 2024
Author(s): Paweł Moskal
The quantum entanglement of photons used in positron emission tomography (PET) scans has been shown to be surprisingly robust, opening prospects for developing quantum-enhanced PET schemes.
[Physics 17, 138] Published Wed Sep 25, 2024
Author(s): Martin Rodriguez-Vega
Experiments show that a property of the vibrations in a quasicrystal is linked to the number known as the golden ratio.
[Physics 17, s121] Published Wed Sep 25, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
The time an inner electron takes to exit an atom after photoionization has been determined using attosecond pulses from an x-ray laser.
[Physics 17, 139] Published Tue Sep 24, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
An experiment reveals that frictional forces can have a surprisingly complex velocity dependence at the nanoscale.
[Physics 17, s120] Published Tue Sep 24, 2024
Author(s): Suman Kulkarni and Dani S. Bassett
Researchers leverage synapse-level maps of the fruit fly brain to examine how neuronal connection probabilities vary with distance, offering insights into how these neuronal networks may optimize function within spatial constraints.
[Physics 17, 136] Published Mon Sep 23, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
Experiments reveal the factors that determine the friction between the single-atom-thick layers in van der Waals materials, which may have uses in lubrication technology.
[Physics 17, 137] Published Fri Sep 20, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Marie-Catherine Vozenin explains why an interdisciplinary approach is key to taking a promising experimental radiotherapy cancer treatment from the lab to the clinic.
[Physics 17, 102] Published Thu Sep 19, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A one-dimensional Bose-Einstein condensate’s superfluid state is surprisingly robust if the atoms are trapped in a quasiperiodic lattice.
[Physics 17, s112] Published Thu Sep 19, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A proposed experiment involving an x-ray beam and two optical beams could determine the values of fundamental constants in quantum electrodynamics.
[Physics 17, s109] Published Wed Sep 18, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
An asteroid-mass primordial black hole flying near a planet could perturb the planet’s orbit by a detectable amount.
[Physics 17, s98] Published Tue Sep 17, 2024
Author(s): Liz Boatman
A recent study sheds light on why undergrads pursue physics and why majors persist or leave.
[Physics 17, 135] Published Mon Sep 16, 2024
Author(s): Caio F. B. Macedo
Gravitational-wave signals from black hole mergers could reveal the presence of “gravitational atoms”—black holes surrounded by clouds of axions or other light bosons.
[Physics 17, 133] Published Mon Sep 16, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Using an old film as input, researchers demonstrate an algorithm that rapidly determines the positions of thousands of particles whose light-scattering produces an image or other desired output.
[Physics 17, 134] Published Fri Sep 13, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
A new survey shows that affinity groups provide crucial support to women and LGBTQ+ physics PhD students—groups that continue to experience harassment and hostility.
[Physics 17, 121] Published Thu Sep 12, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A simple light microscopy setup can map the micrometer-scale domains of a potentially useful class of magnetic materials.
[Physics 17, s106] Published Thu Sep 12, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
A 25-qubit quantum processor architecture reduces the stray signals that can cause errors and is suitable for scaling up.
[Physics 17, s113] Published Thu Sep 12, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Orbital currents can efficiently flow through a variety of materials—a promising result for future orbitronics devices.
[Physics 17, s108] Published Wed Sep 11, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Ultraviolet photons induce potassium niobate to behave like a potent solid-state refrigerant, according to new calculations.
[Physics 17, s103] Published Tue Sep 10, 2024
Author(s): Julien Roche
A new technique allows researchers to study how a bacterium’s entire set of proteins changes its shape under high pressures—shedding light on adaptation mechanisms of deep-sea organisms.
[Physics 17, 132] Published Mon Sep 09, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Researchers use ultrashort laser pulses to trigger a spin-aligned electron flow on the few-femtosecond timescale—opening up a possible path toward faster spintronic devices.
[Physics 17, 131] Published Fri Sep 06, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers have isolated a high-order term in the behavior of a Josephson junction, which could lead to longer-lived superconducting qubits.
[Physics 17, s107] Published Thu Sep 05, 2024
Author(s): Andrea Parlangeli
A new model of epidemics describes infections as part of a feedback loop—an approach that might one day help optimize interventions such as social distancing and lockdowns.
[Physics 17, 129] Published Wed Sep 04, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
An analysis of gravitational data from the LIGO detector sets new limits on a wave-like form of dark matter called scalar-field dark matter.
[Physics 17, s101] Published Wed Sep 04, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
A new method for preparing certain states on a quantum computer is predicted to take the same time regardless of the system size.
[Physics 17, s110] Published Wed Sep 04, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
The observation of quantum modifications to a well-known chemical law could lead to performance improvements for quantum information storage.
[Physics 17, 128] Published Tue Sep 03, 2024
Author(s): Sam Dillavou
A clever use of machine learning guides researchers to a missing term that’s needed to accurately describe the dynamics of a complex fluid system.
[Physics 17, 130] Published Tue Sep 03, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Local curvature could drive directionality of periodic pigmentation patterns on animals.
[Physics 17, s104] Published Tue Sep 03, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Theoretical work explains why terahertz radiation is emitted when a laser pulse demagnetizes a magnetic thin film.
[Physics 17, s97] Published Fri Aug 23, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A mathematical model suggests that social groups can behave in unexpected ways when subjected to competing mass media.
[Physics 17, s96] Published Thu Aug 22, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
A device that sorts photon states could lead to a basic component of an all-optical quantum computer.
[Physics 17, s105] Published Wed Aug 21, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Experiments on soft granular materials have allowed researchers to derive a rheological description for these materials by extending an established framework valid for hard granular materials.
[Physics 17, s100] Published Tue Aug 20, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
A new device converts a stream of microwave photons into an electric current with high efficiency, which will benefit quantum information technologies.
[Physics 17, 127] Published Fri Aug 16, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A magnet-and-coil system reveals how acoustic waves reflect and refract when the host medium suddenly changes elasticity.
[Physics 17, 126] Published Thu Aug 15, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A soft x-ray magnetic imaging technique makes possible the study of a wide range of magnetic materials.
[Physics 17, s89] Published Thu Aug 15, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
An analysis of the brightest gamma-ray burst ever observed reveals no difference in the propagation speed of different frequencies of light—placing some of the tightest constraints on certain violations of general relativity.
[Physics 17, s99] Published Thu Aug 15, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Electrically patterning the walls of a nanochannel could provide a route to creating “valves” that abruptly alter the speed at which a charged fluid flows through a nanofluidic device.
[Physics 17, s95] Published Wed Aug 14, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A new mathematical measure of knottiness could help improve the transport efficiencies of subway and road systems, as well as other physical networks.
[Physics 17, s94] Published Tue Aug 13, 2024
Author(s): Tobias Galla
A model based on statistical physics suggests that the combination of species migration and interspecies interactions may allow a complex ecological system to maintain its diversity.
[Physics 17, 123] Published Mon Aug 12, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A new scheme sends large numbers of entangled photons reliably through commercial fiber-optic cables, demonstrating a capability required for secure quantum networks.
[Physics 17, 125] Published Fri Aug 09, 2024
Author(s): Susan Curtis
High-resolution imaging arrays could be realized by using the same superconducting technology for both the signal-processing electronics and the single-photon detectors.
[Physics 17, 124] Published Thu Aug 08, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Self-organized spherical shells made up of a few hundred cells spontaneously rotate when embedded in a gel. New research explains why.
[Physics 17, s102] Published Thu Aug 08, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A resonance between energy levels in argon atoms and nitrogen molecules could be used to remotely sense contaminants in air.
[Physics 17, s88] Published Wed Aug 07, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Researchers have used a specially crafted electric potential to manipulate the electronic band structure of graphene, laying the groundwork for on-demand electronic band design.
[Physics 17, s92] Published Tue Aug 06, 2024
Author(s): Annabelle Bohrdt
A new manipulation technique could enable the realization of more versatile quantum simulators.
[Physics 17, 120] Published Mon Aug 05, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
New data on the rotation around both long and short axes of plastic strands may help researchers track and remove microplastics that pollute the ocean.
[Physics 17, 122] Published Fri Aug 02, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A correlation between two astronomical observables reveals the influence of visible matter on a universe dominated by dark matter.
[Physics 17, s86] Published Thu Aug 01, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A way to determine the flavors of ultrahigh-energy cosmic neutrinos observed by future detectors could help scientists understand the origin of these elusive particles.
[Physics 17, s87] Published Wed Jul 31, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Nelly Ng studies “quantum catalysts”—extra qubits or other elements that can help perform a quantum information process, in the same way that an extra tower helps solve a classic logic game.
[Physics 17, 109] Published Tue Jul 30, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Experiments at the Joint European Torus make the case for using gamma rays to determine the fusion reaction rate in a magnetically confined plasma.
[Physics 17, s59] Published Tue Jul 30, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
An answer to a decades-old question in the theory of quantum entanglement raises more questions about this quirky phenomenon.
[Physics 17, s83] Published Tue Jul 30, 2024
Author(s): Han-Ning Dai and Yu-Ao Chen
By reducing the effect of systematic errors, researchers have created an atomic clock that sets a new record for precision.
[Physics 17, 118] Published Mon Jul 29, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
The formation of a black hole from light alone is permitted by general relativity, but a new study says quantum physics rules it out.
[Physics 17, 119] Published Fri Jul 26, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers show that atoms that escape from an atom array can be replaced on the fly—an important step toward operating a large-scale neutral-atom quantum computer.
[Physics 17, s93] Published Thu Jul 25, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
How an alga synchronizes its two flapping cilia to propel itself is revealed in a tabletop experiment with chains of mobile robots.
[Physics 17, s81] Published Wed Jul 24, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
An ordered pattern of atomic spins with possible uses in computing can become more ordered if shaken at the right frequency.
[Physics 17, s90] Published Tue Jul 23, 2024
Author(s): Sarah Marzen
Both the predictive power and the memory storage capability of an artificial neural network called a reservoir computer increase when time delays are added into how the network processes signals, according to a new model.
[Physics 17, 111] Published Mon Jul 22, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A new technique reveals high-speed trajectories of oscillating vortices and shows that they are 10,000 times lighter than expected.
[Physics 17, 117] Published Fri Jul 19, 2024
Author(s): Martin Rodriguez-Vega
Researchers predict that a twisted graphene bilayer excited with light could host a slow-moving acoustic plasmon.
[Physics 17, s91] Published Fri Jul 19, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers have developed a cancer-detection method that uses painless sound waves, rather than a torturing needle, to obtain genetic information about a patient’s cancer.
[Physics 17, 116] Published Thu Jul 18, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A new theory that accounts for disorder in a protein’s structure sheds light on the development inside a cell of tiny droplets that are vital to a cell’s function.
[Physics 17, s82] Published Thu Jul 18, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
The pressures at which some elements start superconducting are so high that making detailed measurements of the transition has been impossible—until now.
[Physics 17, s84] Published Wed Jul 17, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Using a detailed simulation, researchers reveal how climate change will affect the regional dynamics of the conveyor-belt-like circulation of water through the Atlantic Ocean.
[Physics 17, 115] Published Tue Jul 16, 2024
Author(s): Agnese Curatolo
Pebbles that are slightly curved—rather than completely flat—exert the highest impact forces when dropped onto a watery surface.
[Physics 17, s85] Published Tue Jul 16, 2024
Author(s): Naoki Masuda
A machine-learning framework predicts when a complex system, such as an ecosystem or a power grid, will undergo a critical transition.
[Physics 17, 110] Published Mon Jul 15, 2024
Author(s): Julie Gould
Sonification and other multisensorial approaches offer powerful tools to analyze data, help visually impaired researchers, communicate science, and create science-inspired art.
[Physics 17, 113] Published Fri Jul 12, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Experiments on a bed of plastic beads reveal a temperature-dependent stiffening over time, which appears to be related to molecular-scale deformations.
[Physics 17, 112] Published Fri Jul 12, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Observations of seven fast-moving stars at the center of a dense star cluster in the Milky Way reveal the presence of an intermediate-mass black hole, perhaps the most puzzling class of these dark objects.
[Physics 17, 114] Published Thu Jul 11, 2024
Author(s): Nikhil Karthik
Electron neutrinos produced by proton–proton collisions at the LHC have been experimentally observed.
[Physics 17, s80] Published Thu Jul 11, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A statistical tool tests the long-held assumption that small-scale turbulence is isotropic.
[Physics 17, s77] Published Wed Jul 10, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Dark matter that interacts with itself could extract significant momentum from a binary supermassive black hole system, causing the black holes to merge.
[Physics 17, s79] Published Tue Jul 09, 2024
Author(s): Tracy Northup
A levitating microparticle is observed to recoil when a nucleus embedded in the particle decays—opening the door to future searches of invisible decay products.
[Physics 17, 107] Published Mon Jul 08, 2024
Scientists have detected the decay of radioactive nuclei by tracking the recoil of dust-sized spheres on which the nuclei were embedded.
[Physics 17, 108] Published Mon Jul 08, 2024
Author(s): Séverine Atis
An experiment uncovers the role played by gravity in Ostwald ripening, a spontaneous thermodynamic process responsible for many effects such as the recrystallization of ice cream.
[Physics 17, 104] Published Wed Jul 03, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Researchers have made the most precise measurement to date of the excited nuclear state of thorium-229, a candidate isotope for an ultraprecise nuclear clock.
[Physics 17, s75] Published Tue Jul 02, 2024
Author(s): Ulrich Warring
In the Mpemba effect, a warm liquid freezes faster than a cold one. Three studies investigate quantum versions of this effect, challenging our understanding of quantum thermodynamics.
[Physics 17, 105] Published Mon Jul 01, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
A theoretical model for the illumination of photosynthesizing algae in giant clams suggests principles for high efficiency collection of sunlight.
[Physics 17, 106] Published Fri Jun 28, 2024
Author(s): Nikhil Karthik
Researchers at CERN have significantly increased the precision of the measured value of the top-quark mass, a key input for making standard-model calculations.
[Physics 17, s57] Published Thu Jun 27, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Quantum sensing can benefit from entanglement protocols that can be interpreted as allowing qubits to go backward in time to choose an optimal initial state.
[Physics 17, s76] Published Thu Jun 27, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A vibrating nanobeam could be used to share information between distant solid-state spin qubits, potentially allowing use of these qubits in complex computations.
[Physics 17, s71] Published Wed Jun 26, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Bright light triggers the chloroplast of a bioluminescent algae to fold into a pattern that minimizes the chloroplast’s exposed area.
[Physics 17, 103] Published Tue Jun 25, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A long-running experiment aboard the International Space Station has found an unexpected population of cosmic rays made of heavy hydrogen ions.
[Physics 17, s74] Published Tue Jun 25, 2024
Author(s): Gary Zabow
A new technique combining magnetic resonance imaging and x-ray fluorescence can characterize, with single-neuron resolution, the presence of toxic forms of iron that might be associated with neurodegenerative diseases.
[Physics 17, 101] Published Mon Jun 24, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A liquid-like spreading of metal atoms on a topological material can generate a superconductor—one that might benefit quantum computing.
[Physics 17, 100] Published Fri Jun 21, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A simple model based on network theory can reproduce the complex structures seen in urban transportation networks.
[Physics 17, s70] Published Fri Jun 21, 2024
Author(s): Robert Garisto
Theorists explain why cosmic inflation might appear to be driven by a single inflaton field, even if it had actually been driven by two or more such fields.
[Physics 17, s78] Published Fri Jun 21, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Researchers have measured a hard-to-observe electronic transition in strontium that was predicted six decades ago.
[Physics 17, s72] Published Thu Jun 20, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Samantha Lawler would like to see more done to reduce the detrimental impact of satellites on dark skies, telescope data, and publicly funded research.
[Physics 17, 97] Published Tue Jun 18, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Spin currents carried by magnetic waves called magnons can be sent across a device without using insulating magnets—a result that could lead to spintronic devices compatible with silicon electronics.
[Physics 17, s67] Published Tue Jun 18, 2024
Author(s): Ivan Bonamassa
A connection between time-varying networks and transport theory opens prospects for developing predictive equations of motion for networks.
[Physics 17, 96] Published Mon Jun 17, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
The extraordinary range of motions achieved by elephants’ trunks can be mimicked by a physical model that uses just three “muscles,” which could inspire robotic designs.
[Physics 17, 98] Published Fri Jun 14, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
Observing gravitational-wave memory may help physicists test general relativity predictions about large-scale symmetries in the fabric of spacetime.
[Physics 17, 95] Published Thu Jun 13, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A first-of-its-kind measurement reveals the energy spectrum of the neutrons produced during the fission of plutonium, a common nuclear fuel component.
[Physics 17, s68] Published Thu Jun 13, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Researchers created an ultracold gas of molecules with strong magnetic dipoles, which may lead to new types of Bose-Einstein condensates.
[Physics 17, s73] Published Wed Jun 12, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A theory first applied to phase transitions in the early Universe and then to defects in superfluid helium can now account for a wider variety of systems.
[Physics 17, s61] Published Tue Jun 11, 2024
Author(s): Valentina Zhelyazkova
A detailed study of a reaction between a molecular ion and a neutral atom has implications for both atmospheric and interstellar chemistry.
[Physics 17, 93] Published Mon Jun 10, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Collections of interacting self-propelled objects held rigidly together show patterns of organized behavior that can be predicted.
[Physics 17, 94] Published Fri Jun 07, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Some ultralight black holes that formed soon after the big bang might have been exotic objects with a net “color charge” that left potentially observable signatures.
[Physics 17, s69] Published Thu Jun 06, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Using a single set of measurements of an electronic circuit, researchers have characterized the properties of the topologically protected edge states of a quantum Hall system.
[Physics 17, s63] Published Wed Jun 05, 2024
Author(s): Andrea Parlangeli
Using an atomic array originally designed for quantum memory, researchers have demonstrated a magnetometer with unprecedented spatial resolution.
[Physics 17, 92] Published Tue Jun 04, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Statistical properties of fluctuations of certain parameters describing a complex system can reveal when that system is approaching a tipping point.
[Physics 17, s64] Published Tue Jun 04, 2024
Author(s): Kirill Korolev
A new model, vetted by experiments on lung cancer cells, may help to explain how cancer and other diseases accumulate drug-resistance mutations that can compromise the effectiveness of treatments.
[Physics 17, 90] Published Mon Jun 03, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
Experiments and theory explain how charge builds up in a moving water drop and why the effect requires a water-repelling surface.
[Physics 17, 91] Published Fri May 31, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A small device senses sounds using a spiderweb-like design—a strategy that could lead to chip-size microphones that are less affected by thermal noise.
[Physics 17, 89] Published Thu May 30, 2024
Author(s): Martin Rodriguez-Vega
Experiments and numerical simulations indicate that randomly replacing a few nonmagnetic components with magnetic ones in a photonic alloy induces backscattering-free light propagation along its edge.
[Physics 17, s60] Published Thu May 30, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Experiments comparing neutron-rich cadmium with previous data on a neutron-poor version prove that a key parameter in nuclear calculations depends on the neutron-to-proton ratio.
[Physics 17, s65] Published Wed May 29, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stevens
A thin film of a topological magnet displays a large thermoelectric effect that doesn’t require an applied magnetic field—a behavior that could lead to new energy-harvesting devices.
[Physics 17, s66] Published Tue May 28, 2024
Author(s): Sai Mu
Group theory and first-principles calculations combine to predict which antiferromagnets have potentially useful net surface magnetization.
[Physics 17, 88] Published Tue May 28, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
Researchers discovered a trick for dragging an object in a fluid with minimal effort, suggesting an optimal strategy for nanorobots.
[Physics 17, 87] Published Fri May 24, 2024
Author(s): Sarah Wells
Using atomic layer deposition, scientists have created a new light-absorbing thin film that could help telescopes see a starrier night.
[Physics 17, 86] Published Thu May 23, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Spacetime wrinkles known as cosmic strings, which might have formed in the early Universe, could be a dominant source of gravitational waves at ultrahigh frequencies, according to new calculations.
[Physics 17, s62] Published Thu May 23, 2024
Author(s): Michael Hahn
New solar observations indicate that plasma waves are responsible for the Sun’s outer atmosphere having different abundances of chemical elements than the Sun’s other layers.
[Physics 17, 83] Published Wed May 22, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Coupling the charger and battery to a common reservoir induces a direct flow of energy into the battery.
[Physics 17, s58] Published Wed May 22, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A secure method for cloud-based quantum computing harnesses the power of quantum physics to keep data confidential.
[Physics 17, 85] Published Tue May 21, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
An experiment at CERN seeks signs of dark matter by looking for missing energy and momentum in the debris of particle collisions.
[Physics 17, s54] Published Tue May 21, 2024
Author(s): Max Hays, Kyle Serniak, and William D. Oliver
Measurements of the temperature distribution of quasiparticles in superconducting circuits reveal behavior that could inform strategies for mitigating quasiparticle-induced errors in superconducting qubits.
[Physics 17, 82] Published Mon May 20, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Measurements related to the production of lanthanum in stars where elements are thought to form via the “i process” indicate that less of the element is produced than models predict.
[Physics 17, 78] Published Fri May 17, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
A new liquid-jet technology enabled researchers to test the theory for liquid freezing more stringently than was possible in previous experiments, but uncertainties remain.
[Physics 17, 84] Published Fri May 17, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
A deep-sea sponge’s intricate skeleton converts the horizontal flow of ocean currents into a vertical flow through the sponge’s body—a mechanism that helps with the sponge’s filter feeding.
[Physics 17, 81] Published Thu May 16, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A method for analyzing uncertainties in so-called analog quantum simulations could help scientists make precise predictions using these models.
[Physics 17, s51] Published Wed May 15, 2024
Author(s): Jung Hoon Han
In its superconducting state, an exotic metal harbors charge carriers that appear to have 4 and 6 times the charge of a single electron, suggesting the formation of Cooper-pair “molecules.”
[Physics 17, 80] Published Mon May 13, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
The ability to store molecules in reconfigurable optical traps could allow researchers to harness the rich physics of molecules in quantum applications.
[Physics 17, s50] Published Mon May 13, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Experiments show the effects on combustion of adding hydrogen to natural gas—a fuel mixture that could reduce carbon emissions from power plants.
[Physics 17, 79] Published Fri May 10, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
X-ray experiments reveal that a semimetal exhibits “orbital texture”—an exotic electronic structure resulting in spin-dependent electron transport.
[Physics 17, s53] Published Fri May 10, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Adding neutrinos to an existing nucleosynthesis recipe can account for the puzzling existence of neutron-deficient heavy nuclei.
[Physics 17, s56] Published Thu May 09, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
Researchers predict that several exotic states of matter can exist in semiconductor structures hosting electrons in one layer and holes in another.
[Physics 17, s49] Published Wed May 08, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
At many US universities, no formal procedure exists to help physics students pick a PhD project and a supervisor. Researchers argue it’s time for that to change.
[Physics 17, 76] Published Tue May 07, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A particle-beam-generating method—called wakefield acceleration—uses proton bunches, which can fragment into high-density filaments as a result of their interactions with plasma, new experiments show.
[Physics 17, s48] Published Tue May 07, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
A new model provides an improved description of the flow of the ocean’s kinetic energy by including friction with the coasts.
[Physics 17, 77] Published Fri May 03, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Researchers record the longest Rydberg-atom lifetime by placing strontium atoms in “circular” states, where the outer electrons move in planet-like orbits.
[Physics 17, s52] Published Fri May 03, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
By coupling two fluxonium qubits through an inductive circuit rather than through a capacitor, researchers have realized a high-fidelity two-qubit gate.
[Physics 17, s55] Published Thu May 02, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A proposed experiment could bring scientists closer to answering the long-standing question of whether gravity is a classical or a quantum phenomenon.
[Physics 17, 65] Published Wed May 01, 2024
Author(s): Ryan Wilkinson
A method for freely adjusting the parameters of a loop of optical fiber enables the exploration of exotic topological phases of matter.
[Physics 17, s46] Published Wed May 01, 2024
Author(s): Peter Thirolf
Researchers use a laser to excite and precisely measure a long-sought exotic nuclear state, paving the way for precise timekeeping and ultrasensitive quantum sensing.
[Physics 17, 71] Published Mon Apr 29, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
The commercialization of magnesium-ion batteries could be closer thanks to the development of a cathode material inspired by multispecies metal alloys.
[Physics 17, 75] Published Fri Apr 26, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Most models for the overall shape and geometry of the Universe—including some exotic ones—are compatible with the latest cosmic observations.
[Physics 17, 74] Published Fri Apr 26, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
Interest in developing batteries based on sodium has recently spiked because of concerns over the sustainability of lithium, which is found in most laptop and electric vehicle batteries.
[Physics 17, 73] Published Thu Apr 25, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
For Shirley Meng, the biggest barrier to achieving sustainable batteries is sociological not technological, requiring a change in mindset about how we consume and dispose of batteries.
[Physics 17, 72] Published Wed Apr 24, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Real-time in situ x-ray observations of new nickel-rich lithium-ion batteries reveal that reduced performance comes from lithium ions getting trapped in the cathode.
[Physics 17, 70] Published Tue Apr 23, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Paul Kempler runs a master’s program at the University of Oregon that provides hands-on electrochemistry training for those wanting to enter the field without them having to take a five-year-long PhD.
[Physics 17, 62] Published Mon Apr 22, 2024
Author(s): Hee Seong Yun and Dong Ki Yoon
Using thin layers of chiral nematic liquid crystals, researchers have observed the formation dynamics of skyrmions.
[Physics 17, 69] Published Mon Apr 22, 2024
Author(s): Philip Ball
The spatial arrangement of plants in a rainforest corresponds to a special “critical” state that could be vital for ecosystem robustness.
[Physics 17, 68] Published Fri Apr 19, 2024
Author(s): Elizabeth Fernandez
A process that reheats some white dwarfs might mean they are much older than previously thought, indicating a potential need to recalculate the age of stellar populations such as the Milky Way.
[Physics 17, 67] Published Thu Apr 18, 2024
Author(s): Matteo Rini
Dense ensembles of laser-cooled molecules allow the observation of molecular collisions—a result that could lead to applications of cold molecular gases in quantum simulation and fundamental physics tests.
[Physics 17, s47] Published Thu Apr 18, 2024
Author(s): Wei Qin and Franco Nori
A quantum squeezing method can enhance interactions between quantum systems, even in the absence of precise knowledge of the system parameters.
[Physics 17, 64] Published Wed Apr 17, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
The verification of a 63-year-old hypothesis indicates that nonequilibrium statistical mechanics could act as a theoretical framework for describing turbulence.
[Physics 17, s45] Published Wed Apr 17, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A quantum light source is touring European labs in preparation for the 2025 International Year of Quantum Science and Technology.
[Physics 17, 66] Published Tue Apr 16, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
Measuring a photon’s angular momentum after it passes through optical devices teaches an algorithm to reconstruct the properties of the photon’s initial quantum state.
[Physics 17, s41] Published Tue Apr 16, 2024
Author(s): Oleg Starykh
A numerical investigation has revealed a surprising correspondence between a lattice spin model and a quantum field theory.
[Physics 17, 63] Published Mon Apr 15, 2024
Author(s): Mark Buchanan
Observations of the Southern Ocean show that wind can produce the surface states needed to generate rare “rogue” waves.
[Physics 17, 61] Published Fri Apr 12, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Scientists have found seven astrophysical tau neutrinos—particles that are notoriously difficult to detect—in an analysis of data from the IceCube Neutrino Observatory in Antarctica.
[Physics 17, 58] Published Thu Apr 11, 2024
Author(s): Katherine Wright
Researchers have quantified a pathway for the formation of molecular oxygen from the interaction of carbon dioxide with electrons, key information for searches of life on other worlds.
[Physics 17, 60] Published Thu Apr 11, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Sending photons to a remote site in groups should allow quantum links to be more rapidly established across future quantum networks than if photons are sent one at a time.
[Physics 17, s44] Published Wed Apr 10, 2024
Author(s): David Ehrenstein
Analysis of the most precise three-dimensional map of the Universe delivers hints of a tension with the standard model of cosmology.
[Physics 17, 59] Published Tue Apr 09, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A signal from the decay products of a meson—a quark and an antiquark—comes from two subatomic particles and not one, as previously thought.
[Physics 17, s37] Published Tue Apr 09, 2024
Author(s): Maya Fishbach
A new model describes the population of black hole binaries without assumptions on the shape of their distribution—a capability that could boost the discovery potential of gravitational-wave observations.
[Physics 17, 57] Published Mon Apr 08, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A glass studio becomes a physics lab for biophysicists examining the physiological tissue properties of marine microorganisms.
[Physics 17, 55] Published Fri Apr 05, 2024
Author(s): Rachel Berkowitz
A radiometry technique directly measures thermal conductivity in molten metals and confirms the relationship with electrical resistivity.
[Physics 17, s25] Published Fri Apr 05, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Using an ultrafast technique, researchers shed light on how the hydrogen-bonded structure of water is reflected in its x-ray spectrum.
[Physics 17, 56] Published Thu Apr 04, 2024
Author(s): Marric Stephens
Adding a nonlinear crystal to an optical spring can change the spring’s stiffness, a finding that could allow the use of such devices as gravitational-wave detectors.
[Physics 17, s40] Published Thu Apr 04, 2024
Author(s): Giuseppe Fumero
A way to create single photons whose spatiotemporal shapes do not expand during propagation could limit information loss in future photonic quantum technologies.
[Physics 17, 53] Published Wed Apr 03, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
A theoretical study of self-assembly finds that hexagon-shaped building blocks can form large structures faster than triangular or square blocks.
[Physics 17, s36] Published Wed Apr 03, 2024
Author(s): Charles Day
Graphene is the setting for the first demonstration of relativistic electrons’ paradoxical ability to whiz through a barrier, provided the barrier is high enough.
[Physics 17, s43] Published Tue Apr 02, 2024
Author(s): Michael Schirber
David Kaplan has developed a lattice model for particles that are left- or right-handed, offering a firmer foundation for the theory of weak interactions.
[Physics 17, 54] Published Tue Apr 02, 2024
Author(s): David Dahmen
A new theoretical framework for plastic neural networks predicts dynamical regimes where synapses rather than neurons primarily drive the network’s behavior, leading to an alternative candidate mechanism for working memory in the brain.
[Physics 17, 50] Published Mon Apr 01, 2024
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