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  • News & Views |

    Quantum cascade lasers are bright and compact semiconductor lasers that emit light in the mid- to far-infrared spectral region. The use of a closed ring cavity has now set them on the path towards ultrafast pulses.

    • Johann Riemensberger

  • Article |

    The structures of stingers of living organisms are surprisingly similar despite their vastly different lengths. Now, stingers are found to obey a unifying mechanistic principle that characterizes the stingers resistance to buckling.

    • Kaare H. Jensen
    • , Jan Knoblauch
    • , Anneline H. Christensen
    • , Katrine S. Haaning
    •  & Keunhwan Park

  • Letter |

    The quantum effective action describing non-equilibrium dynamics of a many-body system can be inferred from experiment using analogue quantum simulators. Here is an example of how it works for a quasi-one-dimensional spinor Bose gas out of equilibrium.

    • Maximilian Prüfer
    • , Torsten V. Zache
    • , Philipp Kunkel
    • , Stefan Lannig
    • , Alexis Bonnin
    • , Helmut Strobel
    • , Jürgen Berges
    •  & Markus K. Oberthaler

  • Article |

    The arrangement of a sequence of stimuli affects how humans perceive information. Here, the authors show experimentally that humans perceive information in a way that depends on the network structure of stimuli.

    • Christopher W. Lynn
    • , Lia Papadopoulos
    • , Ari E. Kahn
    •  & Danielle S. Bassett

  • Comment |

    Since the 1950s, international cooperation has been the driving force behind fusion research. Here, we discuss how the International Atomic Energy Agency has shaped the field and the events that have produced fusion’s global signature partnership.

    • Matteo Barbarino

  • News & Views |

    A laser–plasma experiment has recreated shock waves in collisionless, weakly magnetized conditions and evidenced electron acceleration to relativistic energies, offering unprecedented insight into a long-standing problem in astrophysics.

    • Laurent Gremillet
    •  & Martin Lemoine

  • News & Views |

    Microscopic motile cilia, beating in synchrony across large scales, move the liquid lining of our lungs, protecting from infection and dirt. Surprisingly, a disordered arrangement of cilia, as observed in nature, is shown to be optimal for airway clearance.

    • Pietro Cicuta

  • Letter |

    Error-corrected quantum gates that can tolerate dominant errors during the execution of quantum operations have been demonstrated. Substantial improvement of the gate fidelity sheds light on fault-tolerant universal quantum computation.

    • Philip Reinhold
    • , Serge Rosenblum
    • , Wen-Long Ma
    • , Luigi Frunzio
    • , Liang Jiang
    •  & Robert J. Schoelkopf

  • Article |

    Fluid flow through airways—necessary to keep lungs healthy and free from particles—occurs thanks to moving cilia. Here the authors show that defects in the arrangement of these cilia can facilitate particle clearance through the lungs.

    • Guillermina R. Ramirez-San Juan
    • , Arnold J. T. M. Mathijssen
    • , Mu He
    • , Lily Jan
    • , Wallace Marshall
    •  & Manu Prakash

  • Letter |

    In laser–plasma experiments complemented by simulations, electron acceleration is observed in turbulent collisionless shocks. This work clarifies the pre-acceleration to relativistic energies required for the onset of diffusive shock acceleration.

    • F. Fiuza
    • , G. F. Swadling
    • , A. Grassi
    • , H. G. Rinderknecht
    • , D. P. Higginson
    • , D. D. Ryutov
    • , C. Bruulsema
    • , R. P. Drake
    • , S. Funk
    • , S. Glenzer
    • , G. Gregori
    • , C. K. Li
    • , B. B. Pollock
    • , B. A. Remington
    • , J. S. Ross
    • , W. Rozmus
    • , Y. Sakawa
    • , A. Spitkovsky
    • , S. Wilks
    •  & H.-S. Park

  • Measure for Measure |

    As a unit for enzyme activity, the katal is enigmatic but struggles to find widespread acceptance. Soumitra Athavale tells its story.

    • Soumitra V. Athavale

  • Editorial |

    The contribution of partners and families to scientists’ work is often overlooked. It should be acknowledged and supported more.

  • Article |

    In a surface code consisting of four data and three ancilla qubits, repeated error detection is demonstrated. The lifetime and coherence time of the logical qubit are enhanced over those of any of the constituent qubits when no errors are detected.

    • Christian Kraglund Andersen
    • , Ants Remm
    • , Stefania Lazar
    • , Sebastian Krinner
    • , Nathan Lacroix
    • , Graham J. Norris
    • , Mihai Gabureac
    • , Christopher Eichler
    •  & Andreas Wallraff

  • Letter |

    Boundary-localized bulk eigenstates given by the non-Hermitian skin effect are observed in a non-reciprocal topological circuit. A fundamental revision of the bulk–boundary correspondence in an open system is required to understand the underlying physics.

    • T. Helbig
    • , T. Hofmann
    • , S. Imhof
    • , M. Abdelghany
    • , T. Kiessling
    • , L. W. Molenkamp
    • , C. H. Lee
    • , A. Szameit
    • , M. Greiter
    •  & R. Thomale

  • Letter |

    Here, it is shown that superconductivity can exist without correlated insulating states in twisted bilayer graphene devices a little away from the magic angle. This indicates the two phases compete with each other, in contrast to previous claims.

    • Yu Saito
    • , Jingyuan Ge
    • , Kenji Watanabe
    • , Takashi Taniguchi
    •  & Andrea F. Young

  • Article |

    Braneworld cosmologies describe our universe as a four-dimensional membrane embedded in a bulk five-dimensional anti-de Sitter spacetime. In a possible holographic realization, observers on the brane experience cosmology, and gravity is localized.

    • Stefano Antonini
    •  & Brian Swingle

  • Letter
    | Open Access

    The cores of neutron stars could be made of hadronic matter or quark matter. By combining first-principles calculations with observational data, evidence for the presence of quark matter in neutron star cores is found.

    • Eemeli Annala
    • , Tyler Gorda
    • , Aleksi Kurkela
    • , Joonas Nättilä
    •  & Aleksi Vuorinen

  • Article |

    In the interaction of ultraintense, short laser pulses with solid targets, the collisionless Weibel instability is observed. For a sufficiently high resistivity of the target, an additional resistive instability appears.

    • C. Ruyer
    • , S. Bolaños
    • , B. Albertazzi
    • , S. N. Chen
    • , P. Antici
    • , J. Böker
    • , V. Dervieux
    • , L. Lancia
    • , M. Nakatsutsumi
    • , L. Romagnani
    • , R. Shepherd
    • , M. Swantusch
    • , M. Borghesi
    • , O. Willi
    • , H. Pépin
    • , M. Starodubtsev
    • , M. Grech
    • , C. Riconda
    • , L. Gremillet
    •  & J. Fuchs

  • Letter |

    The localization properties of waves in the quasiperiodic chains described by the Aubry–André model and Fibonacci model are investigated. Passing from one model to the other, the system develops a cascade of delocalization transitions.

    • V. Goblot
    • , A. Štrkalj
    • , N. Pernet
    • , J. L. Lado
    • , C. Dorow
    • , A. Lemaître
    • , L. Le Gratiet
    • , A. Harouri
    • , I. Sagnes
    • , S. Ravets
    • , A. Amo
    • , J. Bloch
    •  & O. Zilberberg

  • Letter |

    The Rydberg-atom superhet, based on microwave-dressed Rydberg atoms and a tailored electromagnetically induced transparency spectrum, allows SI-traceable measurements of microwave electric fields with unprecedented sensitivity.

    • Mingyong Jing
    • , Ying Hu
    • , Jie Ma
    • , Hao Zhang
    • , Linjie Zhang
    • , Liantuan Xiao
    •  & Suotang Jia

  • Comment |

    Automated learning from data by means of deep neural networks is finding use in an ever-increasing number of applications, yet key theoretical questions about how it works remain unanswered. A physics-based approach may help to bridge this gap.

    • Lenka Zdeborová

  • News & Views |

    Systems of neutral atoms are gradually gaining currency as a promising candidate for realizing large-scale quantum computing. The achievement of a record-high fidelity in quantum operation with alkaline-earth Rydberg atoms is a case in point.

    • Wenhui Li

  • Article |

    High entanglement fidelity between neutral atoms is achieved using highly excited Rydberg states. The unique electron structure provided by alkaline-earth atoms makes it a promising platform for various quantum-technology-based applications.

    • Ivaylo S. Madjarov
    • , Jacob P. Covey
    • , Adam L. Shaw
    • , Joonhee Choi
    • , Anant Kale
    • , Alexandre Cooper
    • , Hannes Pichler
    • , Vladimir Schkolnik
    • , Jason R. Williams
    •  & Manuel Endres

  • Letter |

    A careful study of quantum oscillations of single crystals of the cuprate superconductor YBCO placed under a magnetic field reveals a sawtooth behaviour that is reminiscent of two-dimensional electronic systems—in turn suggesting the existence of a so-called ‘hard antinodal gap’ in this system.

    • Máté Hartstein
    • , Yu-Te Hsu
    • , Kimberly A. Modic
    • , Juan Porras
    • , Toshinao Loew
    • , Matthieu Le Tacon
    • , Huakun Zuo
    • , Jinhua Wang
    • , Zengwei Zhu
    • , Mun K. Chan
    • , Ross D. McDonald
    • , Gilbert G. Lonzarich
    • , Bernhard Keimer
    • , Suchitra E. Sebastian
    •  & Neil Harrison

  • Article |

    When interfacing a graphene layer with a thin solid emitter, the quantum plasmonic vacuum allows each solid electron to access all unoccupied valence states through the nonlocality of their light-matter interaction, creating ultra-strong coupling alongside mass and bandgap renormalization.

    • Yaniv Kurman
    •  & Ido Kaminer

  • Perspective |

    This Perspective argues that an approach called extreme value theory is appropriate for understanding the so-called tail risk of epidemic outbreaks, in particular by demonstrating that the distribution of fatalities due to epidemic outbreaks over the past 2500 years is fat-tailed and dominated by extreme events.

    • Pasquale Cirillo
    •  & Nassim Nicholas Taleb

  • Perspective |

    The identification of superconductivity and strong interactions in twisted bilayer 2D materials prompted many questions about the interplay of these phenomena. This Perspective presents the status of the field and the urgent issues for future study.

    • Leon Balents
    • , Cory R. Dean
    • , Dmitri K. Efetov
    •  & Andrea F. Young

  • Article |

    The intrinsic dipole moment of 228Th is reported, from which the degree of the nucleus’s octupole deformation is estimated, suggesting that 229Th and 229Pa may be suitable candidates for the search for a permanent atomic electric dipole moment.

    • M. M. R. Chishti
    • , D. O’Donnell
    • , G. Battaglia
    • , M. Bowry
    • , D. A. Jaroszynski
    • , B. S. Nara Singh
    • , M. Scheck
    • , P. Spagnoletti
    •  & J. F. Smith

  • Article |

    By exploiting the long-lived phonon modes in nanoscale mechanical resonators, a quantum memory that operates around the standard telecom wavelength of 1,550 nm is realized on a silicon platform.

    • Andreas Wallucks
    • , Igor Marinković
    • , Bas Hensen
    • , Robert Stockill
    •  & Simon Gröblacher

  • Article |

    The interface between a quantum Hall state and a superconductor hosts topological modes. Here, interference between two such modes turns an electron into either a hole or an electron depending on the phase difference along the interference path.

    • Lingfei Zhao
    • , Ethan G. Arnault
    • , Alexey Bondarev
    • , Andrew Seredinski
    • , Trevyn F. Q. Larson
    • , Anne W. Draelos
    • , Hengming Li
    • , Kenji Watanabe
    • , Takashi Taniguchi
    • , François Amet
    • , Harold U. Baranger
    •  & Gleb Finkelstein

  • Letter |

    Error-transparent quantum gates that can tolerate certain error during the execution of quantum operations have been demonstrated. Substantial improvement of the gate fidelity sheds lights on large-scale universal quantum computation.

    • Y. Ma
    • , Y. Xu
    • , X. Mu
    • , W. Cai
    • , L. Hu
    • , W. Wang
    • , X. Pan
    • , H. Wang
    • , Y. P. Song
    • , C.-L. Zou
    •  & L. Sun

  • Letter |

    Transmitting the time signal and generating the secure key with the same carrier photon improves the security of a satellite-based quantum-secure time transfer protocol, which uses two-way quantum key distribution.

    • Hui Dai
    • , Qi Shen
    • , Chao-Ze Wang
    • , Shuang-Lin Li
    • , Wei-Yue Liu
    • , Wen-Qi Cai
    • , Sheng-Kai Liao
    • , Ji-Gang Ren
    • , Juan Yin
    • , Yu-Ao Chen
    • , Qiang Zhang
    • , Feihu Xu
    • , Cheng-Zhi Peng
    •  & Jian-Wei Pan

  • Article |

    Generalization of linear response theory to the non-Hermitian case turns dissipation into a new tool for detecting equilibrium phases. The prediction from this theory remarkably agrees with a recent cold atom experiment.

    • Lei Pan
    • , Xin Chen
    • , Yu Chen
    •  & Hui Zhai

  • Letter |

    Coupling of the quadrupole moment of an electron in a triple quantum dot to photons has been predicted to be a good platform for reducing the effect of charge noise on the decoherence time of a qubit. Here, the authors create such a coupling.

    • J. V. Koski
    • , A. J. Landig
    • , M. Russ
    • , J. C. Abadillo-Uriel
    • , P. Scarlino
    • , B. Kratochwil
    • , C. Reichl
    • , W. Wegscheider
    • , Guido Burkard
    • , Mark Friesen
    • , S. N. Coppersmith
    • , A. Wallraff
    • , K. Ensslin
    •  & T. Ihn

  • Article |

    Ionization delays from ethyl iodide around a giant dipole resonance are measured by attosecond streaking spectroscopy. Using theoretical knowledge of the iodine atom as a reference, the contribution of the functional ethyl group can be obtained.

    • Shubhadeep Biswas
    • , Benjamin Förg
    • , Lisa Ortmann
    • , Johannes Schötz
    • , Wolfgang Schweinberger
    • , Tomáš Zimmermann
    • , Liangwen Pi
    • , Denitsa Baykusheva
    • , Hafiz A. Masood
    • , Ioannis Liontos
    • , Amgad M. Kamal
    • , Nora G. Kling
    • , Abdullah F. Alharbi
    • , Meshaal Alharbi
    • , Abdallah M. Azzeer
    • , Gregor Hartmann
    • , Hans J. Wörner
    • , Alexandra S. Landsman
    •  & Matthias F. Kling

  • Article |

    Symmetry breaking is essential for polarization of cells and generation of left–right body asymmetry. Here the authors investigate the arrangement of hair cells in zebrafish and show that mirror-symmetric patterns arise from a combination of biochemical and mechanical symmetry-breaking events.

    • A. Erzberger
    • , A. Jacobo
    • , A. Dasgupta
    •  & A. J. Hudspeth

  • Article |

    An exotic s + is multiband superconducting state manifests in a doped pnictide superconductor when a second band moves below the Fermi surface. This creates an internal magnetic field, breaking time-reversal symmetry.

    • V. Grinenko
    • , R. Sarkar
    • , K. Kihou
    • , C. H. Lee
    • , I. Morozov
    • , S. Aswartham
    • , B. Büchner
    • , P. Chekhonin
    • , W. Skrotzki
    • , K. Nenkov
    • , R. Hühne
    • , K. Nielsch
    • , S. -L. Drechsler
    • , V. L. Vadimov
    • , M. A. Silaev
    • , P. A. Volkov
    • , I. Eremin
    • , H. Luetkens
    •  & H.-H. Klauss

  • Editorial |

    On the 60th anniversary of the first functioning laser, we imagine a research landscape without it.

  • Measure for Measure |

    The tool of choice to measure optical frequencies with extremely high precision is the optical frequency comb. Camille-Sophie Brès explains what makes this technique so powerful.

    • Camille-Sophie Brès

  • Author Correction |

    • F. Zhang
    • , H. B. Cai
    • , W. M. Zhou
    • , Z. S. Dai
    • , L. Q. Shan
    • , H. Xu
    • , J. B. Chen
    • , F. J. Ge
    • , Q. Tang
    • , W. S. Zhang
    • , L. Wei
    • , D. X. Liu
    • , J. F. Gu
    • , H. B. Du
    • , B. Bi
    • , S. Z. Wu
    • , J. Li
    • , F. Lu
    • , H. Zhang
    • , B. Zhang
    • , M. Q. He
    • , M. H. Yu
    • , Z. H. Yang
    • , W. W. Wang
    • , H. S. Zhang
    • , B. Cui
    • , L. Yang
    • , J. F. Wu
    • , W. Qi
    • , L. H. Cao
    • , Z. Li
    • , H. J. Liu
    • , Y. M. Yang
    • , G. L. Ren
    • , C. Tian
    • , Z. Q. Yuan
    • , W. D. Zheng
    • , L. F. Cao
    • , C. T. Zhou
    • , S. Y. Zou
    • , Y. Q. Gu
    • , K. Du
    • , Y. K. Ding
    • , B. H. Zhang
    • , S. P. Zhu
    • , W. Y. Zhang
    •  & X. T. He

  • Article |

    Collective cell migration is usually attributed to large-scale transmission of signals through cell junctions. Here, the authors confine cells into a ring-shaped pattern and show that collective cell migration can arise at the single-cell level.

    • Shreyansh Jain
    • , Victoire M. L. Cachoux
    • , Gautham H. N. S. Narayana
    • , Simon de Beco
    • , Joseph D’Alessandro
    • , Victor Cellerin
    • , Tianchi Chen
    • , Mélina L. Heuzé
    • , Philippe Marcq
    • , René-Marc Mège
    • , Alexandre J. Kabla
    • , Chwee Teck Lim
    •  & Benoit Ladoux

  • News & Views |

    Equilibrium self-assembly processes find free-energy minima but no such general statement holds for systems driven out of equilibrium. A new study has employed laser-induced convective flows to achieve dissipative self-assembly across multiple scales with universal growth and fluctuation statistics.

    • Gili Bisker