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The destruction of particles is normally associated with high-energy physics and particle detectors. But in solid-state physics the destruction of particles, or rather quasiparticles, is taking place routinely in standard laboratories.
That the magnetic orientation of ferromagnets can be changed using magnetic fields has been known for centuries. But the exploration of magnetization control without any additional magnetic field has only just begun.
Advances in theoretical computation raise again the possibility that 'maximal supergravity' might be free of the ultraviolet divergences that have plagued quantum gravity theories — with puzzling implications for string theory.
Coexisting superconductivity and ferromagnetism due to itinerant electrons is unusual, but even among them URhGe stands out. Its surprising behaviour could help reveal the underlying physics of ferromagnetic superconductors.
In two dimensions, any electron system approaching absolute zero should become insulating — in theory. However, experiments suggest otherwise, and the degree of 'valley polarization' might help resolve the controversy.
A demonstration of continuous sum-frequency generation of visible light in a microscopic silica resonator could provide a light source for on-chip silicon photonics and applications in the UV.
Ultracold atoms in optical lattices are already used to simulate complex solid-state phenomena. But could the same platform also give us a better grasp of how quarks group together?
The need for an intense source of coherent, millimetre-wavelength radiation to heat a fusion plasma and control its instabilities represents a significant challenge in the development of the ITER experimental fusion reactor. This challenge may now have been met.
Advanced mirror technology can reduce the intensity of artefacts in the output of high-power laser systems by a factor of 10,000, enabling significantly greater control in the development of laser-driven X-ray and particle sources.
A scheme for dynamically tuning the coupling between a series of resonators and waveguides provides a means of storing light on an integrated photonic chip for longer than is possible with conventional slow-light systems.
Scattering not only broadens the width of the optical transition between two levels but can enable optical gain and absorption to coexist — a fact that is unambiguously demonstrated by the observation of 'Bloch gain' in a quantum cascade laser.
A unidirectional launch pad for electromagnetic surface waves may provide the missing link between conventional optics and future highly integrated photonic chips.
Experimental physicists study the strong force; string theorists try to calculate its effects. Together, they are finding common ground, where string theory can be applied to the physics of quark–gluon plasma.
Although it is over 100 years since Millikan showed that electric charge is quantized, it is only with the development of a new generation of charge pumps that this fact can be used to define the fundamental unit of electrical current, the ampere.
A 'single-photon server', producing a steady stream of single-photon pulses for up to half a minute, has been created by confining, cooling and controlling a neutral atom inside a tiny optical cavity.
